Senator Imee Marcos is pushing back hard in the ongoing case surrounding the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
On Friday, Marcos filed an urgent motion asking Acting Ombudsman Dante Vargas and six investigators to step away from her appeal, citing “clear bias” in how her complaint was handled.
Her motion comes after the Ombudsman dismissed her earlier case accusing Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla and several others of graft, usurpation of authority, and arbitrary detention in connection with Duterte’s March 11 arrest.
Marcos argued that Vargas should not be involved, pointing out that his spouse was a classmate of Remulla at the UP College of Law — a connection she described as “highly irregular and improper.”
“What’s worse,” she added, “on the very day the case was dismissed, Secretary Remulla was already at the Ombudsman’s office to collect his clearance.”
The senator stressed that the dismissal raised serious questions. “These issues are very different from the ones at hand. Dismissing the case outright is not even an option under the rules,” her motion stated.
Marcos earlier submitted a chairman’s report to the Ombudsman detailing alleged irregularities in Duterte’s transfer to The Hague, where he now faces charges for crimes against humanity over the bloody drug war. She said that high-ranking officials may have committed both criminal and administrative offenses.
Meanwhile, Remulla has called on the Ombudsman to resolve the matter “as soon as possible.”
The investigators Marcos wants disqualified alongside Vargas are Sandy Alcantara, Roseann Claudine Pasion, Corinne Joie Garillo-Arellano, Napoleon Regan Malimas, Leilani Tagulao-Marquez, and Nellie Boguen-Golez.
As of writing, Remulla and the panel have yet to comment on Marcos’ move.
