Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Wednesday apologized to members of the Senate who may have been offended by his conduct during the arrest of Senator Jinggoy Estrada inside the Senate premises earlier this week.
Remulla maintained that he acted professionally throughout the operation, saying reports of a heated confrontation had been exaggerated. “There was tension but it was not overblown. If you review all the videos, I only raised my voice only once,” he said in a text message.
The apology came after Senator Rodante Marcoleta criticized what he described as Remulla’s disrespect toward Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano during the arrest. “I respect Marcoleta’s feelings. However, I maintain that I maintained a professional demeanor during the entire incident,” Remulla said.
In a separate radio interview, the Interior chief offered an apology to senators. “My apologies to the members of the Senate if they were offended. I don’t think it was personal on our parts. I was calm to the point when I had to effect the warrant,” he said.
Estrada was arrested inside the Senate on Monday in connection with plunder and graft charges involving an alleged P573-million anomaly.