Deputy Executive Secretary Guevarra named new justice secretary

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday appointed a deputy of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea as the new secretary of justice.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte has signed the appointment paper of Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, replacing resigned Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

Guevarra took his oath before the President also on the same day.

LOOK: Newly appointed DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra takes his oath before President Rodrigo Duterte. Guevarra replaced resigned DOJ chief Vitaliano Aguirre II. ????: Palace @gmanews pic.twitter.com/R75LjTjYJN

— Virgil Lopez (@virgillopez) April 5, 2018

Asked why Duterte picked Guevarra as the new DOJ chief, Roque pointed to the former Palace official's legal acumen and integrity. 

Guevarra placed second in the 1985 Bar examinations. He had worked for the National Economic and Development Authority, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and is a former faculty member of the Ateneo De Manila University School of Law.

Guevarra had also served as Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III. He had also been appointed commissioner at the Philippine Competition Commission. 

Aguirre quit his post amid public uproar over the dismissal of the criminal charges against alleged drug lords including Kerwin Espinosa and Peter Lim.

Even Duterte got angered by the dismissal, fueling rumors that Aguirre was the next on the President’s chopping block.

‘I accepted Aguirre’s resignation’

Duterte on Thursday announced that Aguirre had resigned and that he had accepted the official's decision to leave.

"I accepted the resignation of Vit Aguirre, my fraternity brother, as Secretary of Justice. I am now in the hustings looking for a replacement," Duterte said in a speech.

Duterte was reportedly so upset at the dismissal of the complaints that he told Aguirre that he would take the place of the drug suspects in jail if they escaped accountability.

The public uproar has prompted Aguirre to order a review of the case and launch a criminal probe against the investigating prosecutors.

Aguirre had shrugged off earlier calls for his resignation, saying he would stay in his post as long as he had the trust and confidence of the President.

The 71-year-old former trial lawyer is facing a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman over allegations that he abetted the proliferation of fake news in government.

Aguirre had said several opposition lawmakers met with two political families in Marawi City weeks before clashes between the ISIS-inspired Maute group and government security forces broke out in May last year.

He also claimed that a Korean mafia was behind the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo in October 2016.

Aguirre has also been implicated in the P50-million bribery scandal in November 2016 involving two officials of the Bureau of Immigration and gaming tycoon Jack Lam, after he met with the Chinese businessman to discuss the condition of arrested Chinese workers at a casino resort in Pampanga.

Duterte and Aguirre were law school classmates. They are also members of the San Beda College of Law-based Lex Talionis Fraternity. —NB/KBK, GMA News