Aguirre: Protesters are ignorant
March 19, 2018 | 3:29pm
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said that he is not stepping down from his position despite mounting calls for his resignation. File
MANILA, Philippines — Protesters demanding his resignation are merely ignorant of prosecution proceedings, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said.
"Those people are ignorant. Even if they know I am right, they are doing this to put us in bad light," Aguirre told reporters in a text message.
The justice chief is reacting to Akbayan protesters, who are asking him to step down in light of criticisms flooding the Department of Justice due to its controversial handling of the drug case against alleged drug lords.
Wearing wigs, the group trooped to the DOJ building in Padre Faura St. in Manila on Monday. They tagged Aguirre as the "king of fake" and deplored the DOJ for dispensing "fake justice."
In a separate text message to reporters, Aguirre said that they "respect the valid exercise of freedom of assembly and expression."
Controversial cases
On March 12, news hit that the drug raps against alleged big-time drug lords Peter Lim, Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Co and a dozen others were dropped by state prosecutors.
The dismissal of raps, however, is not yet final as the police have filed their motion for reconsideration. The case can also be elevated to the Office of Justice Secretary in a petition for review.
A few days later, it was learned that businesswoman Janet Napoles, believed to be the brains behind the multi-billion pork barrel scam, has been given provisional protection of the DOJ.
The DOJ said that Napoles has submitted an affidavit that is currently being examined by the agency to weigh whether she could serve as a state witness. The agency, however, declined to detail the said affidavit.
The Justice department has reopened the probe into the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam emanating from the complaint filed by Presidential Anti-Corruption Commissioner Greco Belgica.
Napoles is also facing a string of plunder cases before the Sandiganbayan.
Aguirre, last week, vowed that he would not step down from his position as he is confident that he still enjoys President Rodrigo Duterte's trust. He also claimed that the cases of the alleged drug lords and Napoles were riddled with "politics and sabotage."
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