MUST READ!DOJ chief Aguirre hurdles Commission on Appointments

MAGAZINE

Published February 15,2017

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The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday approved the appointment of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

Aguirre’s appointment was approved despite the opposition of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who earlier took offense on the insults hurled by the Justice secretary against him, and likewise raised the Bureau of Immigration (BI) P50-million bribery scandal and the supposed authorization of privileges for high-profile inmates.

Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the CA judicial and bar council committee, said they decided to take up Trillanes’ issues in an executive session as requested by the CA members.

“It’s a prerogative of the members of the commission. And it’s not the first time it was done,” Legarda said.

After the executive session, which took less than an hour, the CA panel approved Aguirre's appointment with no opposition.

During the hearing, Trillanes said Aguirre’s appointment will be “inimical to the public interest.”

“This early, even before his confirmation, Mr. Aguirre has publicly displayed his penchant for prosecution and to pin down critics of the administration,” Trillanes said.

Aguirre earlier admitted referring to Trillanes as “gagong senador,” “sundalong kanina” and “duwag.” He apologized to Trillanes during the hearing and explained that he only uttered such statements out of pressure from his job.

Trillanes and Senator Leila de Lima are both vocal critics of the Duterte administration and its violent crackdown on illegal drugs.

Trillanes also said Aguirre lacks the “basic decency and propriety” after ordering the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to probe the privileges allegedly granted to inmates detained at the AFP Custodial and Detention Center in exchange of their testimonies against De Lima in the Bilibid drug trade.

“To conduct an investigation on the matter despite the fact that he was the one being clearly charged with anomaly shows his lack of basic decency and propriety.

Cleary, no fair and objective [investigation] can be expected from said investigation,” he said.

Trillanes asked the CA committee that the AFP Custodial Center commander as well as BuCor legal office chief Alvin Herrera Lim be summoned to the confirmation hearing.

This was denied by Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the CA panel, saying only CA members can make such request.