MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday said he would look into the alleged shredding of documents at the Department of Justice (DOJ) prior to the resignation of his predecessor Vitaliano Aguirre II.
Guevarra made the statement following reports of photos showing several plastics bags filled with supposed shredded DOJ documents which have been circulating in the Internet since last week.
Guevarra said he had not personally seen the pictures of the supposed shredded documents since he started holding office in the DOJ last April 10.
“We will try to find out who gave the order and what kinds of documents were disposed of. In fairness to Sec Vit (Aguirre), I will also ask him,” Guevarra said in a text message sent to Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Aguirre denied that he ordered the shredding of documents during his last day at the agency.
“Foremost, I did not order any of my personnel to shred documents during my last day in the office at the DOJ. If any shredding was done, I know nothing about it,” Aguirre said in a statement sent to reporters.
“Assuming, for the sake of argument that it was true, what is wrong with shredding papers when what were shredded were already considered waste? The shredding could have been done to prepare the office for the incoming Justice Secretary. We can even surmise that it was done to get rid of unneeded or unwanted documents. In fact, shredding of documents is being regularly done in public and private offices,” he added. (PNA)
