MANILA – Vitaliano Aguirre II is making a return to President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration after being appointed as the commissioner of the National Police Commission (Napolcom).
“Mr. Aguirre served as Department of Justice secretary during the early years of the Duterte administration. This bodes well in his new position to make the police service competent, effective, credible, and responsive to our people’s needs,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Aguirre served as Justice secretary for the first two years of the Duterte administration, before resigning amid controversies hounding the department. He was replaced by Menardo Guevarra.
Prior to Aguirre’s resignation, the DOJ drew criticism over several decisions, including the dismissal of charges against alleged drug lords Peter Lim and Kerwin Espinosa, and the provisional admission of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles to the Witness Protection Program.
Last year, Aguirre was tagged by columnist Ramon Tulfo as protector of the “pastillas” bribery scheme, which allowed Chinese nationals to pay their way for easy entry to the Philippines.
Aguirre has repeatedly denied this allegation, saying he knew nothing of the scheme before it was exposed./PN
