Sen. Bam Aquino (File photo by INQUIRER.net)
Senator Bam Aquino on Thursday said that the opposition was one with President Rodrigo Duterte after he accepted the resignation of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
Duterte, during a speech in Malacañang, announced that he has accepted Aguirre’s resignation. The president then appointed Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra as Aguirre’s replacement.
“Natutuwa tayo at nagkakaisa ang oposisyon at ang Pangulo sa isyung ito [We are glad that the opposition and the President are one in this issue],” Aquino said in a statement.
“Sa mata ng taumbayan, pawala na nang pawala ang kredibilidad ni dating Justice Secretary Aguirre sa bawat kapalpakan at palihis na kilos nito [In the eyes of our countrymen, the credibility of former Justice Secretary Aguirre continues to dwindle, with his every failures and his wayward actions],” the senator said.
Aguirre’s resignation comes as the Department of Justice (DOJ) came under fire over the dismissal of illegal drug charges of self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and Cebu businessman Peter Lim.
Since last year, opposition senators had been calling on Aguirre to resign for accusing the “dilawan” of destabilizing the Duterte administration by allegedly plotting the Marawi siege.
READ: Minority senators join call for Aguirre resignation
It was also Aguirre who alleged that “Senator Franklin Drilon and former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas were implicated in a drug syndicate.”
READ: DOJ: Bagman’s affidavit can be used to probe Roxas, Drilon’s ‘drug links’
“The Filipino people deserve a credible, capable and respectable Justice Secretary who will lead with integrity and rebuild our trust in the Department of Justice,” Aquino said.
“Muli nating ibalik ang tiwala ng taumbayan sa DOJ bilang tanggapan na nagtataguyod ng hustisya para sa bawat Pilipino, lalo na sa mga walang kalaban-laban [Let us bring back the trust of the people for the DOJ, which is an agency that promotes justice for every Filipino especially to the oppressed],” the senator said. /jpv
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