President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted Department of Justice Secretary
Vitaliano Aguirre II resignation, Thursday, April 5, 2018.
"I accepted the resignation of Vic Aguirre, my fraternity brother, as Secretary of Justice. I am now in a hastings, looking for a replacement," President said.
Aguirre resigns from his post after the backlash the Department of Justice has been receiving after its dismissal of drug charges against self-confessed drug distributor
Kerwin Espinosa and alleged drug lord Peter Lim.
Department of Justice prosecutors had dismissed the charges against Espinosa, Lim, and several others due to "weak evidence" in March, disappointing President Rodrigo Duterte himself.
This action made several lawmakers and groups to call Aguirre to leave his post and resign. It also led critics to believe that the government's war on drugs was only for the poor and powerless.
Who is Peter Lim and Kerwin Espinosa?
Lim, a wealthy businessman from Cebu was among the first alleged drug lords identified in public by
President Duterte back in July 2016. Duterte even threatened to kill him along with other senior government officials believed to be involved in drug trade.
On the other hand, Espinosa, a self-confessed drug lord confrimed that Lim was on of his drug suppliers in a Senate hearing on Dec. 5, 2016. But Lim said in an interview with the Inquirer on that same day that he did not know Espinosa.
Cabinet Re-Shuffling?
Harry Roque, Duterte's spokesperson said that the President expressed his unhappiness with his Cabinet members, and hinted at a possible reshuffling of positions.
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