(Eagle News) — The Palace on Thursday said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre still enjoys the President’s trust and confidence.
This was despite calls for Aguirre to quit, following a Department of Justice prosecution panel’s dismissal of drug charges against self-confessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and others.
Aguirre has denied any hand in the drafting of the December 2017 resolution, noting that it was in fact subject to automatic review by him.
“[T]he President has not hesitated to fire even members of the Cabinet. For as long as he [Aguirre] has not been fired, he enjoys the trust and confidence of the President,” Roque said in a press briefing.
In junking the charges against Espinosa and the others, the first panel of prosecutors ruled the alleged inconsistencies in the testimony of the complainant’s only witness, Marcelo Adorco.
Adorco was Espinosa’s driver at that time.
A second panel of prosecutors has been formed to look into the motion for reconsideration filed by the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, which acted as complainant.
