Despite drawing flak, Aguirre still trusted by Duterte—Palace

Malacañang on Thursday said that Justice Secretary Vitalino Aguiree II still enjoys the trust of President Rodrigo Duterte even if the former has gotten flak for linking opposition lawmakers to the siege in Marawi City.

Aguirre on Wednesday alleged that Senators Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and Antonio Trillanes IV, Representative Gary Alejano and Ronald Llamas, former adviser of former President Benigno Aquino III, met in Marawi City.

He said the meeting “could be (the) spark that triggered the terroristic acts in Marawi.” But the justice secretary later said he was “misquoted” and apologized to the lawmakers he linked to the terrorists.

READ: Bam says Aguirre has apologized, cited ‘confusion’

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella, in a Palace briefing, said Aguirre’s claims remain to be speculation unless vetted properly.

“Regarding these matters, unless really fully vetted, it remains speculation as far as we’re concerned.

We go by what the President has said that the troubles are directly due to the ISIS,” Abella said.

But Malacañang, which earlier appealed to the public to stop sharing unverified information, said Aguirre was not going against its policy.

READ: Did Justice Secretary Aguirre fall for fake news?

“He is not going against policy. He is simply doing his job as far as he’s concerned. However, we did not make that statement so we stand by our claim that we give accurate reports,” he said.

The Palace official assured Aguirre still enjoys the trust of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The President has his full trust. He has the full trust of the President. He is doing an excellent job actually in the DOJ,” he said.

“These things are all part of his process so we defer to him. We respect what he has done,” he added.

Abella said he was sure that the secretary was “fully aware of what he needs to do and how to address the matter.”

“On the other hand, let us be rest assured that the President has continually—the President’s full intention (number one) was to make sure that the nation runs along the line that there’s law and order,” he said. IDL/rga