On Monday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla described the new Ombudsman case against him as a coordinated attempt to “shoot down” his aspiration to become chief anti-graft buster of the country.

Remulla said the charges of kidnapping and arbitrary detention filed by acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and others were an act of “forum shopping,” noting that a similar case is already pending before the Supreme Court.

The DOJ chief believes the complaint was strategically timed to coincide with the application process for the Ombudsman position.

“It’s really an organized effort for them to shoot down my candidacy as Ombudsman. They’re really timing it in that way that will make it impossible for… they want to make it impossible for the JBC (Judicial and Bar Council) to get the requirements that I have to submit,” he told reporters.

The case was filed just a week after the Ombudsman dismissed charges against Remulla filed by Senator Imee Marcos.

The lady senator, however, immediately filed a motion for reconsideration, which means the case is not yet final and a necessary Ombudsman clearance for his application remains in question.

“I think that we can still prevail. I think the truth is on my side,” Remulla said, adding he would “roll with the punches” and that his application was a pursuit of an office that “needs a vigorous leader.”

He also noted that the ongoing cases were turning his application into a “political spectacle.”

But on Monday, Senator Marcos maintained that the Ombudsman case she filed against Remulla and other officials linked to the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte remains active, despite the Ombudsman’s dismissal of the complaints.

On 12 September, the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the complaints, which Remulla and Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla — another respondent — confirmed.