MANILA — Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Wednesday shrugged off calls of militant youth leaders for his resignation as head of the agency.
“I serve at the pleasure of the President. While I respect the view of everyone to express themselves freely, I will stay for as long as I enjoy the trust and confidence of the President,” Aguirre said when sought for a comment.
Aguirre was reacting to the mass actions staged by a group Youth Resist which consists of militant students who stormed the DOJ compound and delivered the 807-page petition citing reasons why he should resign.
The petition contained 17,000 signatures gathered through online platform Change.org calling for Aguirre’s resignation for allegedly spreading fake news.
Among the incidents cited include showing a photo of opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes and Senator Bam Aquino purportedly hatching a plan to escalate the conflict in Marawi.
The petition also mentioned his supposed exchange of messages with former Congressman Jacinto “Jing” Paras to expedite the filing of a criminal case against Senator Risa Hontiveros.
“Aguirre must vacate his post at once to protect the public from his machinations. A scheming Secretary of Justice is an injustice to the victims of the killings,” the petition stated.
Aguirre has earlier dismissed the mockery on his alleged fake hair, which was again demonstrated by the protesters.
“My hair is the frailty of my scalp, it is the frailty of my genes, there is nothing that can be done about it,” he stressed. | PNA
