Youth protesters wear wigs; call on Aguirre to step down

Student, youth and sectoral leaders donning colorful wigs troop to the DOJ office in Manila to demand Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre’s resignation. Grig Montegrande / Philippine Daily Inquirer

Wearing different colorful wigs, youth leaders trooped to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday and called for the resignation of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

The group YouthRESIST delivered an 807-page petition to the DOJ and there the members cited reasons why Aguirre should resign.

The petition, which contained 17,000 signatures gathered through online platform change.org, called for Aguirre’s resignation for allegedly spreading fake news.

Among the reasons the group cited include Aguirre showing a photo where opposition leaders Senator Antonio Trillanes and Senator Bam Aquino purportedly hatching a plan to escalate the conflict in Marawi.

The petition also mentioned his supposed exchange of messages with former Congressman Jacinto “Jing” Paras to expedite the filing of a criminal case against Senator Risa Hontiveros.

“Aguirre must vacate his post at once to protect the public from his machinations. A scheming secretary of Justice is an injustice to the victims of the killings,” the petition stated.

Aguirre earlier turned down calls for his resignation

“I serve at the pleasure of the President. While I respect the view of everyone to express themselves freely, I will stay for as long as I enjoy the trust and confidence of the President,” he said.

READ: Aguirre rejects resignation calls: ‘I serve at President’s pleasure’

On why critics love to focus on his hair, Aguirre said “my hair is the frailty of my scalp, it is the frailty of my genes, there is nothing that can be done about it.” /jpv