Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
“They are just making noise,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on the alleged move by rich Filipino-American critics to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
Members of the Global Filipino Diaspora Council (GFDC), including billionaire philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis and her sister, former Commission on Filipino Overseas chairwoman Imelda “Mely” Nicolas, were reportedly pushing for Vice President Leni Robredo to become president in a “conspiracy” to oust Duterte.
In one of leaked emails dated Dec. 4, 2016 which was first posted online by a blogger, Lewis supposedly told GFDC members that the only way to fight an “evil plot” to unseat Robredo is to call for Duterte’s resignation.
“After all, he promised to resign in six months if he has not solved the drug epidemic in the Philippines,” the leaked email stated.
READ: The ‘conspiracy’ to oust Duterte
Aguirre said “she is calling for the Vice President to become president. She is calling for the resignation of the President. She is a dreamer. There are only few who are making a noise although they have money.”
The justice chief believed that both Robredo and Senator Leila De Lima, the staunchest critic of Duterte, stayed at Lewis’ home during their visit in the US last year.
READ: ‘I am not a part of any plot to oust Duterte’—Robredo
As far as the DOJ is concerned, he said there is no investigation being conducted.
However, he said he is not sure if the National Security Agency (NSA) is doing its own investigation./rga