Drilon chides Aguirre for making claims ‘out of thin air’

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday asked Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to stop making accusations “out of thin air” after the latter tried to link two opposition senators to the terror attack in Marawi City.

Aguirre earlier claimed that Senators Bam Aquino, Antonio Trillanes IV, and former President Benigno Aquino IV’s political adviser Ronald Llamas met with some political clans in Marawi on May 2, a few days before the Maute terrorist group attacked the city.

READ: Aguirre sees ouster plot vs Duterte linked to Marawi crisis

“It’s the height of recklessness on the part of the Justice Secretary. He should stop making accusations out of thin air,” Drilon said in a statement.

“His insinuation against our colleagues in the minority is very unfair. Secretary Aguirre should not only retract his statements. A public apology is in order,” he said.

Drilon said the records of the Senate could easily dispute Aguirre’s allegation.

“Records don’t lie. If only Secretary Aguirre has respect for the truth, he could have easily verified his ‘intel report’ that he got from Facebook before making unfounded accusations,” the Minority Leader said.

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

Even Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, he said, had issued a statement clarifying that Aquino’s visit in Marawi on May 19 was connected with the launching of the first Negosyo Center in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“How many times has the Justice Secretary done this? It is becoming a vicious habit. Anyone can fall victim to this reckless practice,” Drilon said.

“Such is the main reason why the public’s faith in the justice system in the country continues to erode,” he further said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who is part of the majority bloc, said Aguirre should have verified first his information before making it public.

“Parang speaking too soon or shooting from the hip ano, kasi syempre pagka may sinabi ang Secretary of Justice, dapat beripikadong-beripikado, dapat i-factcheck, tapos check and check. Hindi pepwedeng hindi sigurado ang information ay ilalabas mo kaagad; talagang mao-open ka na misquote or makuryente,” Lacson said during a weekly forum at the Senate.

(It’s as if he’s speaking too soon or shooting from the hip, because when the Secretary of Justice says something, of course it needs to be verified, it has to be fact checked and then double checked. Uncertain information shouldn’t be released; you’ll be open to being misquoted.)

Asked if the Commission on Appointments (CA) could still revoke Aguirre’s appointment, the senator answered in the negative, saying the Justice Secretary could only be removed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Hindi pwede, na confirm na siya e,” said Lacson, who is a CA member.

(No, because he’s already been confirmed.)

“Ang pwedeng mangyari, kung mawala ‘yung tiwala ng Pangulo sa kanya, tanggalin siya. Pangulo na lang ang pwedeng magtanggal kasi lumampas na siya sa confirmation hearing, hindi pwedeng bawiin ng CA ‘yung confirmation na ibinigay sa isang subject sa confirmation,” he said.

(What can happen is if the President loses trust in him, then he can be removed. Only the President can remove him because the confirmation hearing has already passed, the CA can’t take the confirmation back.)

Reminded of his previous advice to Aguirre to be careful with his public pronouncements, Lacson said in jest: “E di ang message ko naman sa kanya: ‘Wala ka namang kadala-dala (My message to him is that he hasn’t learned his lesson).’” JE/rga

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