MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra reminded employees of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to work unceasingly in serving the interests of justice.
“We cannot afford a single bystander in our midst. We are touted as guardians of the rule of law. And (with) that, we shall strive hard to be through hard work and dedication, irrespective of the sacrifices and personal costs it demands from us,” Guevarra said in his speech at the DOJ’s 121st founding anniversary on Wednesday.
“There shall be neither passive leadership nor blind obedience amongst us. We shall all work as equals,with neither seniority nor hierarchy. The superiority we shall recognize if the superiority of ideas and the correctness of thought and of our moral compass,” he added.
Guevarra also urged the DOJ employees to commit to upholding justice for all.
“My aim in the past six months and in the months ahead has been and will still be to stoke the embers of that spark in each of you that we may collectively rekindle in our people the hope that justice in their lifetime and in ours, is neither illusory nor elusive, but real and within reach,” he noted.
Guevarra, former Senior Deputy Executive Secretary, was named Justice Secretary by President Rodrigo Duterte in April, replacing Vitaliano Aguirre II.
The DOJ began with the Revolutionary Assembly in Naic, Cavite on April 17, 1897 under Don Severino delas Alas who headed the Department of Grace and Justice.
Shortly after the proclamation of Independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, President Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree on September 26, 1898 reorganizing the department.
The American military force established the Office of the Attorney of the Supreme Court in place of the Department.
On June 11, 1901, the new office was renamed the Office of the Attorney General and on September 1, 1901, the Office became the Department of Finance and Justice.
In the 1916 government reorganization, the DOJ became a separate entity and was given executive supervision over all courts of first instance and other inferior courts.
Under the 1973 Constitution, the department became the Ministry of Justice. The 1986 People Power Revolution ushered in the contemporary DOJ.
With the adoption of the 1987 Constitution and the Administrative Code of 1987 (Executive Order No. 292), the DOJ was named as the principal law agency of the Republic of the Philippines, serving as its legal counsel and prosecution arm. (PNA)
