Aguirre: ‘Fact-check’ clears Bam of ouster plot vs Duterte

Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Friday cleared Senator Bam Aquino of any involvement in the alleged destabilization plot against President Rodrigo Duterte.

The Justice Chief earlier said Aquino was among members of the opposition that went to Marawi and met with some prominent families last May 2.

READ: Did Justice Secretary Aguirre fall for fake news?

Aguirre also mentioned of a photo he received from his asset purportedly taken during the meeting. He refused to provide a copy of the photo but reporters were able to catch a glimpse of the photo.

Eventually, he retracted his statement and issued a clarification saying the meeting never took place and he was misquoted by the media.

In his Friday statement, he said “upon further verification, I was able to establish that Sen. Bam Aquino went to Marawi City on May 19, 2017 upon invitation of Governor Soraya Alonto-Adiong to promote the Go Negosyo Program.”

“He was not present in the alleged meeting of opposition leaders said to have been held in Marawi City on May 2, 2017,” Aguirre said, adding that “I did not give, release or send to anyone any picture of any Marawi meeting. The picture of an alleged meeting allegedly taken in 2015 did not come from me.”

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

Members of the Justice and Court Reporters Association (Jucra) took exception to Aguirre’s statement blaming the media for the backlash he received after issuing a statement dragging members of the opposition into destabilization plot that led to the Marawi siege.

“As recorded in our videos and voice recorder and even in our Facebook Live coverages, we quoted Sec. Aguirre verbatim and only reported the facts to our viewers and readers—Including the fact that he showed a photo from his mobile phone supposedly showing the meeting between the senators and Muslim clans in Marawi last May 2,” The Jucra statement stated.

“As responsible journalists, we also took the opportunity to perform our duty of verifying and counter-checking the information and photo that the Secretary has presented during the briefing and found that several details and information were wrong.”

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) also slammed Aguirre for using the media as his scapegoat to clarify his statement about the destabilization plot against the government.

“You lie when you claim you were ‘misquoted’…There was no misquotation. Your words were recorded on video and audio. So, no, you are not passing the buck on to reporters who did what they are supposed to do—accurately report your official acts and pronouncements,” The NUJP said in a statement.

“It is bad enough that you have shown no qualms about throwing the law, the truth and justice out the window in your headlong rush to persecute—sorry, prosecute—perceived foes of the administration. But trying to blame others for your blunders unmasks you as a mean-spirited coward,” NUJP added. IDL