Vitaliano Aguirre II

Vitaliano Aguirre II
Secretary of Justice
In office June 30, 2016 – April 5, 2018
President	Rodrigo Duterte
Preceded by	Emmanuel Caparas
Succeeded by	Menardo Guevarra
Vice President for Legal Affairs of Clark Development Corporation
In office March 16, 2013 – June 30, 2016
President	Benigno Aquino III
Preceded by	Perlita M. Sagmit
Personal details
Born	Vitaliano Napeñas Aguirre II (1946-10-16) October 16, 1946 Mulanay, Quezon, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Political party	Liberal Party (1987–2016) PDP-Laban (2016–present)
Alma mater	San Beda College
Profession	Lawyer

Vitaliano Napeñas Aguirre II (Tagalog: [vitɐˈliano naˈpɛɲas aˈɡiɾɛ]; born October 16, 1946)^[1] is a Filipino lawyer from Quezon. He served as Secretary of Justice under President Rodrigo Duterte from 2016^[2] until his resignation in 2018.^[3] He previously served as Vice President and chief legal counsel of Clark Development Corporation under former President Benigno Aquino III.^[4] He gained wide public attention in 2012 during the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona when he was cited for contempt after he was caught covering his ears while being lectured by the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.^[5]

Early life and education

Vitaliano Aguirre II was born and raised in the municipality of Mulanay, to Alfaro G. Aguirre and Maria Napeñas. His father was a former mayor of the town who also served as Liberal Party chairman for almost 40 years.^[5] The eldest of nine children, he attended the Mulanay Elementary School and graduated as valedictorian in 1959. His family then moved to Manila where he received his high school and college education. He was a full scholar at San Beda College, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1967.^[1] He then pursued legal studies at San Beda College of Law, where he and Rodrigo Duterte would become classmates. He and Duterte are members of Lex Talionis Fraternitas.^[6] He graduated from law school as valedictorian and cum laude in 1971, and passed the bar examination the same year.^[4]

Career

Aguirre has been in private practice for many years. He established a law firm in Makati with partners Rodolfo Robles, Sixto Brillantes, Jose Ricafrente, Antonio Nachura and Antonio San Vicente. He served as the lead counsel of Hubert Webb in the 1995 Vizconde murders case and as deputy counsel of the Feliciano Commission's fact-finding investigation of the 2003 Oakwood mutiny. During the impeachment trial of Renato Corona, he was tapped as one of several private prosecutors tasked to secure the Chief Justice's conviction.^[5]

Aguirre is currently a managing partner at Aguirre & Aguirre Law Office. He also teaches law at the Arellano University Law Foundation.^[5] In March 2013, he assumed the post of Vice President for Legal Affairs of the government-owned Clark Development Corporation.^[7]

Aguirre was also a lawyer for then Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. He served as the latter's chief legal counsel on the cases seeking to disqualify Duterte during the 2016 presidential campaign, as well as on cases linking the President to the Davao death squads. He likewise represented a policeman who owned a quarry site turned into a firing range where remains of supposed victims of these alleged death squads were believed to have been buried.^[8][9]

During the 2017 Marawi Crisis, Aguirre tagged various opposition senators along with others as masterminds of the siege. Aguirre claimed that the senators flew to Marawi and met with members of two influential local political clans a few days before the May 23 siege. Aguirre showed to the media a photo of the supposed meeting. However, Aguirre was apparently unaware that the photo of the alleged meeting in Marawi was posted on a Facebook fan page created by the President’s supporters on May 13, or more than a week before terrorists mounted the attack. This accusation drew flak from the public especially those he named due to the lack of credibility of his claims and the fact that he picked the image which was first shared and posted on several pro-Duterte blogs and known sources of fake news, including dugongmaharlika.com and allthingspinoy.com.^[10] After the incident, Aguirre was labelled as the King of the Fake News from the citizens and other lawmakers.^[11] Aguirre was criticized for the act saying that Aguirre himself "willingly" amplified fake news "like a troll" against political opponents.^[12]

In September 2017, senator Risa Hontiveros caught justice secretary Aguirre drafting fabricated charges against her through text messages during a hearing on the deaths of minors caused by the Philippine Drug War. The same tactic was used by Aguirre against senator Leila de Lima, which led to de Lima's arrest a few months past. Despite being caught and the evidences presented in halls of Senate, Aguirre still filed cases against Hontiveros in October.^[13]

He has tagged Cebu city major Tomas Osmeña as a drug lord protector. However, both the Philippine National Police and the president himself have disapproved the tagging as there were no concrete evidences found.^[14]

Aguirre resigned from his post on April 5, 2018. His resignation was accepted by president Rodrigo Duterte. Majority of politicians, including Grace Poe and Sonny Angara, have pointed out that his resignation should not be used as a shield from the injustices he made when he was justice secretary.^[15] Aguirre later retaliated, stating that he left the Department of Justice with a better image. On April 6, 2018, the president appointed Menardo Guevarra as the new justice secretary.

References