Aguirre pooh-poohs De Lima’s charges

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II downplayed the charges filed against him by Sen. Leila de Lima, saying he would face the cases in any forum.

Aguirre brushed off the complaint that De Lima lodged at the Office of the Ombudsman, saying that the senator was “just trying to be relevant.”

“Unlike her, who has consistently refused to recognize the jurisdiction of our courts over her in the drug cases she is currently facing, I will face her accusations against me in any forum,” he said.

It was an apparent dig at De Lima, who is detained in Camp Crame for various drug-related cases before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court that Aguirre himself led.

On Thursday, the senator lodged a 27-page criminal and administrative complaint against Aguirre before the Office of the Ombudsman.

De Lima asked that the justice secretary be probed for supposed violations of the Revised Penal Code, Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as various administrative offenses.

The senator cited Aguirre’s supposed inaction on more than 7,000 cases of extrajudicial killings amid the government’s war on illegal drugs.

She also took him to task for his abuse of power in tagging De Lima as the “queen” of the illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary, and for insinuating that some lawmakers were involved in the Marawi siege.

In response, Aguirre expressed confidence that he would be able to refute the senator’s accusations.

“Unlike her who has consistently anchored her defense on bare denials and nothing more, we can refute her accusations with well-established proof of actions taken,” he said.

He maintained that he would “follow what our laws or rules state on jurisdiction and will not challenge it because I know I have not done anything wrong.”