MANILA, Philippines — The justice secretary was acting on his own when he negotiated with the camp of pork barrel scam alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles to make her a state witness against some officials of the previous administration, according to President Duterte.
“Si Vit Aguirre — sabi ko, ‘bakit nasabit na naman siya dito kay Napoles?’ Eh diskarte ‘yan niya eh (I said, ‘why did he get embroiled again with Napoles? Well it’s his game),” Duterte said, referring to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, in remarks before members of the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC) Wednesday night in Pasay City.
The MRRD-NECC is the biggest group that backed Duterte’s candidacy in 2016.
Duterte earlier called on Aguirre to get his act together after DOJ prosecutors cleared some suspected high profile drug lords, including Kerwin Espinosa and Peter Lim.
Duterte was reportedly unhappy about the development.
Early this week, Napoles’ lawyer Stephen David revealed during a hearing at the Sandiganbayan that he had discussed with Aguirre and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea the possibility of including Napoles in the witness protection program (WPP) and placing her under DOJ custody.
Aguirre confirmed meeting David but insisted it was only to exchange ideas and advise him to follow the process by filing a motion with the Sandiganbayan for the transfer of Napoles to DOJ custody.