Poe to DOJ chief: Don’t moonlight as ‘perya’ barker

MANILA, Philippines - Senators slammed yesterday Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II for his remarks that invite attacks on members of the Senate.

Senators Grace Poe, Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan were referring to Aguirre’s speech before a pro-Duterte rally during the observance of the EDSA people power revolt on Saturday, asking the crowd who should be the next senator to prosecute after Sen. Leila de Lima.

“This is a reminder to the justice secretary: you are expected to administer justice fairly and not to moonlight as a perya (carnival) barker who agitates the crowd,” Poe said. “That high office entails prudent decision-making, which is not served by tasteless stunts that incite the mob.”

Poe said she expected Aguirre to be the voice of reason so many Filipinos felt betrayed when he turned into a rabble rouser.

“A justice secretary should be made of sterner stuff, one who is never swayed by partisan  provocation, because when he does, he betrays his oath and renders his own self unfit for the job,” she said.

Hontiveros found it extremely disconcerting that Aguirre was “crowdsourcing the next person who he will be prosecuting.”

“He is dangerously promoting a lynch mob culture,” she said.

She said Aguirre must learn to distinguish between prosecution and persecution.

“The former is based on legitimate investigation and the painstaking job of building cases, the latter is the outright systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by the state,” Hontiveros said.

Pangilinan described Aguirre’s statement as reckless and irresponsible. 

‘Only a joke’

Aguirre said the spectacle of targeting Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as next critic of President Duterte to be jailed during the pro-administration rally at Quirino Grandstand over the weekend was “only a joke.”

He said this yesterday as he responded to criticism by Poe, who advised him not to act like a “perya barker.”

“That was a joke. If you’re in a political rally, there’s a lot of entertainment going on,” he told reporters in an ambush interview. “Don’t they have a sense of humor?”

But Aguirre said he respects the opinion of Poe and said she has all the right to express her criticisms.

While he promised to be “more appropriate” in his speeches, he asked critics not to “make a mountain out of a molehill.”

During the two-day vigil of Duterte supporters reportedly attended by over 200,000 people, Aguirre asked the crowd who they wanted jailed next after De Lima.

The crowd responded with a resounding “Trillanes,” to which he replied: “Tulungan ninyo ako (then help me).”