DOJ to be graft-free agency – Aguirre

MANILA, Philippines – On his first day of office on Friday, July 1, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II vowed to act on his marching orders from President Rodrigo Duterte and rid the Department of Justice (DOJ) of graft and corruption.

After attending Mass at the DOJ with justice officials and employees, Aguirre held a press conference to discuss his plans for the agency.

The new justice secretary said Duterte had ordered him to transform the DOJ into a graft-free agency, be part of the fight against illegal drugs, and to prosecute heinous crimes.

Aguirre warned prosecutors and DOJ employees against involvement in illegal activities, particularly when it comes to the raffle of cases.

“On the raffling or assignment of cases, some are particularly favored. We will make some improvements. What was happening in the past was some prosecutors were being favored to get good cases, big cases,” Aguirre said.

He also said that he has received reports that several high-ranking DOJ officials were involved in anomalous activities. While no concrete evidence has been submitted to substantiate these reports, Aguirre said that a fact-finding team may be created if warranted to investigate corruption allegations against DOJ officials.

“Alam kong marami dito ay mabuting kagawad nguni’t may ilan na naliligaw. Sana po sa mga nalilihis sa atin na nasa DOJ at attached agencies ay tulungan nating bigyan ng liwanag upang sila ay magbago,” Aguirre said.

(I know that there are many here who are upright, but there are others who have strayed from the path. I hope that we can help change those in the DOJ and its attached agencies who have deviated from the path.)

He added, “Huwag na natin ituloy ang ating ginagawa nung mga nakaraang panahon.” (Let us not continue what we have done previously.)

Aguirre also said that he was aware that some prosecutors have opted to be assigned to posts outside of Metro Manila, supposedly attracted by the perks given to them by local government units (LGUs).

“Because they are very dependent [on] the LGUs, these LGUs are manipulating them, so that is also the start of corruption. We are very much aware of that,” he said.

Aguirre said he plans to recall some of these prosecutors back to Manila to address the backlog of cases.

He estimated that an additional 500 prosecutors would be needed to address the backlog. The DOJ would also hire on-the-job trainees to help address the problem, he added. – Rappler.com