Duterte accepts Aguirre resignation

Deputy Executive Secretary Guevarra takes oath as new DOJ chief

DAVAO CITY – Days after keeping mum on reports that he was firing Vitaliano Aguirre II, President Duterte yesterday announced he had accepted the resignation of the secretary of justice.

Senior Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra took his oath as Aguirre’s replacement later in the afternoon.

The President made the announcement in the middle of a speech at the awarding of outstanding farmers and fisherfolk at Malacañang.

“May I just also tell you now that I conferred with the officials. I accepted the resignation of Vit Aguirre, my fraternity brother, as secretary of justice,” the President said. 

“I am now in the hustings looking for a replacement,” he said.

On Tuesday, The STAR reported that Duterte would dismiss Aguirre due to loss of trust and confidence.

Aguirre was linked to controversies including the P50-million bribery scandal involving resigned immigration deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles. He also drew flak for his prosecutors’ dismissal of criminal charges against suspected drug lords Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and several others. He later ordered a review and reversal of the dismissal.

Duterte had threatened to place Aguirre in jail if Espinosa and Lim managed to get away.

Aguirre, who was head of Duterte’s legal team during the campaign in 2016, was a law classmate and fraternity brother of the President at the San Beda College.

At the Cabinet meeting last Wednesday, Aguirre got the cold shoulder treatment from the President, an insider said.

He was standing next to the President when Cabinet members took their usual photo opportunity after Duterte’s blowing of a birthday cake but the animosity was palpable, the source said. The President turned 73 last March 28.

There were even photos of him standing beside the President after the Cabinet meeting, but there was no interaction between them.

“It was like para siyang ‘basang sisiw.’ He (Aguirre) was just there and he did not talk. He just sat there all throughout the meeting,” a source said.

As justice secretary, Aguirre was expected to say a word or two about the legal implications of the order on the six-month closure of Boracay starting April 26.

“But he (Aguirre) did not say anything. Not even about the legalities of the move, especially since cases are expected to be filed as a result of that closure of the island,” the source added.

It was reportedly the President himself who said that charges are expected to be filed against government with regard to the order to close Boracay.

“Nothing came from Aguirre who was supposed to be the justice secretary,” the insider noted.

But presidential spokesman Harry Roque claimed there were no signs that Aguirre was on his way out during the Cabinet meeting.

“He was there as always, he seemed normal. There was no indication that he was on his way out. There was nothing extraordinary in effect. He was just there like always,” Roque said in a press briefing.   

Guevarra told the media last Wednesday that Duterte was “generally satisfied” with Aguirre’s performance “except for certain debacles.”

It was Roque who announced the appointment of Guevarra as new DOJ chief.

Roque said Duterte signed Guevarra’s appointment papers yesterday. 

“The Department of Justice is one of the most sensitive departments because it involves justice,” the presidential spokesman said. “We know that Usec. Guevarra has proven his knowledge of the law and his integrity.”

Roque said Guevarra was issued an ad interim appointment because Congress is on recess.

Guevarra took up graduate studies in economics at the University of the Philippines after completing his bachelor of arts in political science at the Ateneo de Manila in 1974.

He was a staff economist at the National Economic and Development Authority and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Guevarra ranked second in the 1985 Bar examinations.

He had also worked in the technical staff of the 1986 Constitutional Commission and as faculty member of the Ateneo School of Law.

Guevarra was named deputy executive secretary for legal affairs in 2015 and commissioner of the Philippine Competition Commission in 2016. 

Damage done

 Sen.  Risa Hontiveros said the resignation of Aguirre came too late as he had already done much damage to cases involving the public interest.

“Too late the hero for justice zero. The damage is done. By being allowed to stay in his post for the longest time, Mr. Aguirre turned the justice department into a leading purveyor of fake news, a manufacturer of fake legal cases to harass the opposition and a refuge for drug lords, plunderers and other high-profile criminals,” Hontiveros said.

“Our justice system is now in shambles, with more and more people trusting it less and less. Mr. Aguirre’s resignation is a hollow gesture,” she added.

Hontiveros said President Duterte’s acceptance of Aguirre’s resignation “absolves him from accountability and amounts to little more than a sorry attempt on the part of the President to save face despite Aguirre’s repeated fiascos.”

However, she said the departure of Aguirre from office is a “clear victory against injustice and impunity.”

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said the credibility of the position of justice secretary has suffered much due to the numerous blunders under Aguirre’s watch.

“The Filipino people deserve a credible, capable and respectable justice secretary who will lead with integrity and rebuild our trust in the Department of Justice,” Aquino said.

Sen. Grace Poe said that while the President can always replace an undesirable official, accountability should not be set aside.

“One minute you are the lord in your little kingdom, the next minute you are clearing your desk. Whether the exit was graceful or unceremonious, one thing is also certain, the  actions undertaken by the resigned official while in office can be assessed and if abuses or oversight were committed, he cannot claim immunity from having to account for them,” Poe said.

Rep. Gary Alejano of Magdalo said Aguirre should not just be allowed to leave, but should be investigated as well for his string of “blunders.” 

“It is not enough that the President dismiss his justice secretary. He should investigate him as well for possible case-fixing in several bungled cases,” he said.

Alejano said Duterte should be interested to know why convicted drug lords serving time at the New Bilibid Prison continue to pursue their illegal drug dealing activities under Aguirre’s watch.

He added that it is not far-fetched that the drug convicts enjoy lenient treatment and certain privileges in exchange for sticking to their testimonies against detained Sen. Leila de Lima, who is facing drug-related charges.

Alejano noted that such convicts had in the past threatened to change their testimonies if their privileges like access to mobile phones were withdrawn.

He stressed that drug lord-inmates would not be able to carry on their illegal activities without the aid of cellphones and similar communication devices.

He pointed out that among the recent blunders committed by Aguirre were the exoneration of high-profile drug lords and the clearing of those involved in the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling at the Bureau of Customs in May last year.

Espinosa was one of those who claimed they gave money to De Lima. His exoneration has put his testimony against the detained senator in doubt.

Administration critics have claimed that the exoneration of Espinosa, Co and Lim and those behind the shabu smuggling meant that the President was not really serious in his much-publicized anti-drug campaign, and that he was targeting only poor suspects.

It also showed that the administration was coddling drug lords, they said.

Alejano said Aguirre made the President’s anti-corruption campaign look funny by recruiting suspected P10-billion pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles as a state witness and offering to provide security and housing to her at the expense of taxpayers.

He noted that the Supreme Court gave Aguirre a rebuff by ruling that Napoles should not be freed from jail. –  Jess Diaz, Edu Punay, Marvin Sy