Aguirre: Sereno asked me to ‘tone down’ letter asking for transfer of Maute cases

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday claimed Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno asked him to “tone down” the danger and security concerns in his request to the Supreme Court that Maute-related cases be transferred from Cagayan De Oro City to Taguig City.

At Tuesday’s hearing to determine probable cause on the existing impeachment complaint against Sereno, Aguirre said the top magistrate requested that the two of them meet in private in her office at the Supreme Court regarding his request.

The Justice Secretary said the meeting took place on June 19, 2017, and that he indulged the Chief Justice's request out of "basic courtesy."

"In our meeting kami lang pong dalawa, she told me, Secretary, with respect to your request sana i-tone down yung contents ng letter na gagawin mo," Aguirre recalled.

Instead, the top magistrate allegedly told him to focus his letter on the need for the military to focus their efforts on fighting Maute terrorists.

Aguirre said Sereno reasoned that instead of highlighting security concerns for the prosecutors, detainees, and police escorts, his focus for his letter should be “because that [transferring the cases] would free the military from the aspect of taking care of detaining these individuals so they could fully focus on fighting these [Maute] terrorists.”

Aguirre said he filed the letter-request before the Supreme Court to ask for the transfer of criminal cases from the jurisdiction of courts and detention facilities in Mindanao — where Marawi, the center of the fighting, is located — to either Luzon or Visayas.

He said he eventually heeded Sereno's advice and changed the focus of his letter to reflect the top magistrate's sentiments on the matter.

However, although pressed by House justice committee members, he declined to speculate why the Chief Justice may have made such a request.

According to the complaint by lawyer-complainant Lorenzo Gadon, Sereno caused a "52-day delay" in the transfer of the cases. As per Aguirre, on the other hand, the "delay" was 50 days long.

For their part, Sereno's team of lawyers said the Supreme Court acted on Aguirre's initial request within 8 days, another 14 days to discuss Aguirre's request for reconsideration, and another 14 days to release its resolution granting Aguirre's motion for reconsideration.

"Under these circumstances, the accusation of 'intentional delay' is baseless," the lawyers said in a statement. — MDM, GMA News