CA panel endorses Aguirre’s confirmation for DOJ post

The Commission on Appointments' (CA) Committee on Judicial and Bar Council on Wednesday endorsed the appointment of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II for confirmation.

The previous motion of Senator Panfilo Lacson from the first confirmation hearing on Aguirre’s appointment last February 1 was approved with no opposition after members of the CA panel met in closed-door executive session.

Members of the CA committee decided to go into executive session to discuss the issues raised by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who filed an opposition to Aguirre’s appointment.

Trillanes earlier took offense on the insults hurled by Aguirre against him, and likewise raised theP50-million bribery scandal at the Bureau of Immigration and the supposed authorization of privileges for high-profile inmates.

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.

Trillane is a vocal critic of the Duterte administration and its violent crackdown on illegal drugs together with Senator Leila de Lima.

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.

Lim, the BuCor official who reported Aguirre’s supposed approval of VIP treatment, wants to rectify the memorandum he sent to the BuCor chief, the DOJ secretary told the committee.

“Up to now, he is not going to the office for about one week already and the records of Atty. lim show that he was charged with grave misconduct and other charges and he was found guilty,” Aguirre said.

Trillanes also questioned Aguirre’s “possible complicity” in the BI bribery scandal, which the Justice secretary had denied any involvement of.

“It would be tantamount to a failure of this chamber to perform its primordial task of vetting its candidates for important positions in government if it will not investigate scandalous and serious allegations,” the senator pointed out.

Trillanes, however, said politics will prevail with regards to Aguirre’s confirmation.

“This is not the end of it. In the unfortunate scenario that Secretary Aguirre would be confirmed, hindi yun ang katapusan ng oversight functions namin. We will continue to be vigilant and guard against abuse and misuse of power,” he said. —KBK, GMA News