INC rally won’t affect probe into Sara Duterte ‘kill' remark — Remulla

MANILA, Philippines — Iglesia ni Cristo's "rally for peace" will not affect the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) ongoing investigation into Vice President Sara Duterte's "kill" remark.

In an ambush interview on Tuesday, January 14, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the NBI will submit the report before the Department of Justice (DOJ) “very soon.”

“I don't think so kasi we just have to look at the law as something that equalizes everything between all of us, that's why we cannot give special favors to people because of standing,” Remulla said. 

The DOJ chief also pointed out that he is not concerned with the motives behind the rally, noting that participants have the right to freely express their views.

“I'm not concerned about that because it's their freedom to express themselves and we respect that freedom. We regard that freedom zealously,” Remulla said. 

On Monday, Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said that the NBI is wrapping up its probe into Duterte over the assassination remark. However, in a message to the STAR on January 13, NBI Director Jaime Santiago stated that the bureau has yet to finalize the investigation.

The Iglesia ni Cristo “rally for peace” happened on Monday at the Quirino Grandstand where an estimated 1.8 million people attended. The rally was meant to support the stance of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against the impeachment of Duterte. 

However, Iglesia ni Cristo’s spokesperson Edwin Zabala emphasized that the rally was to call for “peace” and was not political.

On the other hand, the investigation into Duterte stems from her remark during a virtual press conference in November last year, in which she criticized the House of Representatives' decision to transfer her chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, from the House detention facility to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.

Duterte was quoted as saying that she had contacted an assassin to kill Marcos, the first lady, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if an alleged assassination plot against her were to succeed.

She, however, downplayed her statements days after insisting that it was never a threat. — with reports from the STAR/Mark Villeza