Resigned
Within 24 hours after Presidential Spokesman Roque said that Vitaliano Aguirre would remain as DOJ secretary, President Duterte announced that he had accepted Aguirre's resignation, effective Thursday. Aguirre even attended the Cabinet meeting last Wednesday, but the suspicions were rife regarding his ouster as justice secretary. It was a good news day when it was officially announced that Duterte had accepted Aguirre's resignation. He was replaced by Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevara, who was sworn into office right away.
Opinions regarding Aguirre's resignation were that of approval, even relief. Let's just say many were elated. There is no other DOJ Secretary more controversial than Aguirre. He was accused several times of peddling fake news. He excelled in riling the opposition with ridiculous charges and accusations. Aguirre had been asked to resign several times because of his baseless accusations. The last example was his statement that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña was being investigated because of his alleged involvement in illegal drugs, even claiming to have a witness or whistleblower. But according to PNP Chief Gen. Dela Rosa, they have no evidence linking Osmeña to drugs, and he was not on any drug list. The PDEA also stated that there was no evidence Osmeña was involved in drugs.
According to Aguirre, he is leaving the DOJ "better than when they found it." This is an obvious dig at Sen. Leila De Lima who then headed the DOJ. It was his only comment when asked about his resignation. If you will recall, Aguirre was smug about the trust and confidence he supposedly still enjoyed from Duterte.
But Duterte's first order to Guevarra was to "restore the DOJ's dignified image." What does it mean to restore a dignified image? Doesn't it mean DOJ's image under Aguirre was no longer dignified, thus needing to be restored? An undignified DOJ. One can easily see why Aguirre chose to resign than be eventually fired.
Guevarra will now be able to, or at least we hope he does, scrutinize all the controversial cases under the DOJ during Aguirre's stint. Cases such as Janet Lim Napoles' entry into the Witness Protection Program, the case of Horacio Castillo III's death from hazing by members of Aegis Juris, the issue on Dengvaxia, the dismissal of charges against Peter Lim and Kerwin Espinosa, as well as the case against Sen. De Lima and Sen. Trillanes and others with the opposition whom Aguirre just loves to accuse.
We do not know if Aguirre will be given another position in government, as is this administration's practice. Remember that Aguirre is very close to Duterte, being a classmate in law school as well as fraternity brother. It is actually refreshing to know Guevarra was chosen not because he was also from the same law school and fraternity. He was chosen for his integrity, having served in government before. There are also calls for Aguirre to face the consequences of any of his abuses. Aguirre made a lot of enemies, especially from the opposition. Now that he is no longer the justice secretary, perhaps it his turn to face the music.
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