President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has not lost confidence in Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla despite a string of high-profile missteps that have prompted calls for his removal from the Cabinet, Malacañang said.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro made the statement at a briefing where reporters pressed the Palace on Marcos’s assessment of Remulla’s performance following last week’s Senate shooting incident and the interior secretary’s premature announcement about the status of former lawmaker Zaldy Co in the Czech Republic.
“Personal po ay wala naman po akong nakitaan na natanggal ang tiwala ng Pangulo kay Secretary Jonvic Remulla sa ngayon,” Castro said.
Remulla had declared that Co — a central figure in a multibillion-peso flood control scandal — could be back in Manila within three weeks after being taken into custody in Prague. He subsequently walked back that statement and issued an apology.
The interior secretary has faced a widening barrage of criticism in recent days. The Department of the Interior and Local Government came under intense scrutiny following the shooting incident inside the Senate on May 13, and Remulla drew further condemnation after police under his department detained individuals for not wearing shirts as part of the DILG’s “Safer Cities” initiative.
When asked whether Marcos was considering former Senator Antonio Trillanes or former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. as potential replacements for Remulla, Castro said no such information had been provided to them.
“Wala pa pong ganoong ibinibigay sa ating mga impormasyon,” she said.
