MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday vowed to bring back the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ‘dignified image’.
“I hate to say that our department as well as most agencies attached to it is suffering from a huge image problem — the impost of the building remains the same but it’s somehow corroded inside — it looks solid but its structural integrity is suspect both literally and metaphorically so it is my personal mission to restore the DOJ’s dignified and respectable image to make it a corner stone and not a mere pillar of our justice system,” Guevarra told DOJ employees in his first flag raising ceremony as the head of the agency.
The newly-appointed DOJ chief urged officials and personnel to help him in this task.
“I can’t do it alone. I need you, all of you to start an inner revolution of our values to adopt an attitude that puts premium on the interest of the people we serve especially the underprivileged and the oppressed over and above our individual self-interest,” he stated.
“I know I may be asking for the moon, or I maybe too late in the day, but I still believe in miracles,” Guevarra said.
He also stated his plans and ideals in the agency.
“I have absolutely no agenda, political or otherwise — my only ambition is to do my job well and then retire to a private company of my grandchildren,” Guevarra stressed.
“I make my decisions based on facts, my choices based on merits and everything else based on the rule of law with lots of compassion on the side after all it is the mandate that the president gave me, to do what is right — it is also the mandate of the DOJ which is the principal law agency of the government,” he added.
Earlier, Guevarra said he will give special attention to cases involving illegal drugs and terrorism in compliance with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s instructions.
Among the matters to be given priority, Guevarra said, are the review of the controversial drug case involving Cebu businessman Peter Lim and self-confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and the decision of his predecessor, Vitaliano Aguirre II, to place alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles under provisional coverage of the Witness Protection Program (WPP).
Guevarra also said that the President told to him to remove from the Department those who are generally perceived and backed up by evidence to be engaged in wrongdoings.
He also said the President would not intervene in his way of performing his duties.
“Sabi niya (President Duterte) ‘pag meron lumapit sa akin na kamag-anak niya asking for any favor (The President said if any relatives approached asking for favors), consider it denied,” Guevarra said.
“I can do what I need to do for as long as I follow the rule of law,” he added. (With reports from Jay Ray Masayda-OJT/PNA)
