Two high-ranking prosecutors have been reassigned to Iloilo and Mindanao in a move Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II described as part of his prerogative to do what is best at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In separate Department Orders, Aguirre assigned Deputy Senior State Prosecutor Miguel Gudio to be the Officer-in-Charge of the Office of Provincial Prosecutor in Compostela Valley while Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva will be assigned as Officer-in-Charge of the Office of Provincial Prosecutor in Guimaras.
When asked if the transfer is part of the DOJ’s “house cleansing” of corrupt officials, Aguirre declined to comment.
“I am the alter ego of the President and under the law I have the prerogative to do that,” Aguirre said at a press conference.
“What I did to the two it is an exercise of the Secretary’s prerogative, kaya I will not justify it,” he added.
“There are so many reports of corruption at the DOJ. yang assignment na yan wala pa ako na tinutukoy (that assignment…was not meant to pin point any one), I am just exercising my prerogative because I want to disrupt the rhythm of corruption,” Aguirre told reporters during the press conference at the DOJ main office in Manila.
Aguirre said there are prosecutors who refused to be reassigned to another area.
“They don’t want to transfer as if that I vested right there in their position that they could not be assigned anywhere…that is wrong,” he noted.
Aguirre said that in his five months stewardship as DOJ Chief still receiving complaints on corrupt practices of some employees.
The Justice Chief said he is simply carrying out the instruction of President Duterte to remove corrupt DOJ officials and employees.
He said it should start in his own backyard because he cannot help fight corruption in other government agencies if his department is not graft-free.