By Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
After days of hinting that there will be changes in his Cabinet, President Duterte yesterday said that he has accepted the resignation of Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II.
Duterte, without going into details, said that he is now looking for someone to replace his long-time friend.
“But may I just also tell you now that, I conferred with the officials, I accepted the resignation of Vit Aguirre, my fraternity brother as Secretary of Justice. I’m now looking for a replacement,” Duterte said in a speech during the awarding of outstanding farmers, fisherfolks, and coastal communities in Malacañang.
Duterte also announced that he has selected National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Oscar Albayalde as the new Philippine National Police chief replacing Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa.
Aguirre and Duterte are members of the Lex Taleonis Fraternity. Aguirre belongs to a batch ahead of the President.
Aguirre’s resignation came after weeks of speculations that there will be a Cabinet revamp, after the President said that he is not anymore satisfied with the performance of some of his Cabinet officials.
Talks on Aguirre’s departure surfaced following the decision of the Department of Justice to dismiss the charges against high-profile drug suspects Kerwin Espinosa and Peter Lim, among others.
Duterte expressed his disappointment at the decision of the DoJ, even threatening Aguirre that he will be put behind bars if the drug suspects would be released without being punished.
Aguirre also revealed that alleged P10-billion “pork barrel” fund scam mastermind businesswoman Janet L. Napoles was placed under the provisional coverage of the Witness Protection of Program.
Malacañang officials had said they were unaware if Aguirre was sacked by the President or if he resigned.
Aguirre was still able to attend the 24th Cabinet meeting in Malacañang Wednesday. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque had said that there was no sign that the Justice Secretary was on his way out.
