MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte has asked high-profile Lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre II to serve as Justice Secretary under his administration.
Aguirre, a fraternity brother and classmate of Duterte at the San Beda Law School, said he had only asked for an audience to congratulate Duterte for winning the presidency and was surprised that the latter offered him the justice portfolio.
Aguirre, a private prosecutor, is famous for being the lead counsel of Hubert Webb in the Vizconde murder-rape case.
In 2012, he got the ire of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago after he covered his ears while the latter was speaking during the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Aguirre acknowledged the huge tasks awaiting him, including the cases over the pork barrel scam, drugs, and the “cleaning” of the national bilibid prisons, where convicts have been discovered to be living in luxury and where the drug trade continues to thrive.
He vowed to focus on corruption and drug cases, two priorities of the incoming administration.
