Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre attends a Senate hearing on Kian de los Santos case. INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has transferred Caloocan Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Darwin Cañete to Mandaluyong City.
Aguirre announced the transfer of Cañete after he issued a statement saying that the Caloocan Prosecutors’ Office will handle the preliminary investigation on the murder and torture cases of Kian de Los Santos.
Cañete recently came underfire because of his supposed bias against 17-year old victim.
“In the interest of the service and pursuant to the provisions of existing laws, Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Darwin G. Canete…is hereby re-assigned to the Office of the City Prosecutor of Mandaluyong City,” Aguirre’s order stated.
Canete, a vocal supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte, was criticized on social media after saying that the boy, who was killed in a drug sting last week, “could not be that innocent.”
He also caught the public’s attention after he posted on social media last June 13 that “YELLOWS are EVIL. You don’t talk to them, YOU KILL THEM. After you kill one, you find another to DESTROY. Like COCKROACHES.”
Aguirre said Cañete called him and requested for his reassignment.
“He told me that he has been receiving threats. I believe his request is reasonable and he has basis,” Aguirre told reporters.CBB