No idea about compromise deal with Marcoses: Aguirre

FILE: Vitaliano Aguirre II (PCOO Photo)

MANILA — Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Thursday said that he has no idea about the alleged compromise agreement between the government and the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcos regarding their sequestered assets.

Aguirre issued the statement after Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed that the Palace has received a copy of the draft agreement submitted by Marcos loyalist and lawyer Oliver Lozano.

Aguirre also revealed that the deal has not been even raised or discussed in the Cabinet.

“That has not been tackled in the Cabinet. I could not say anything about it because I have never seen it yet,” Aguirre told reporters in a press conference.

“We received no instruction from any higher ups about it. In other words, we are completely ignorant about it,” he maintained.

Asked if he was interested to read the contents of the document, the Justice Secretary said it was part of his job to peruse it.

Aguirre, however, said the DOJ would not exert “special effort” to secure a copy of the proposal, which the Marcos family had already disowned.

Aguirre also clarified that if the DOJ would be later tasked to review such compromise deal, he would have no choice but abide by such order.

Earlier, Roque said the only development on the matter involves the proposal of a “creation of a legal team that would study a compromise agreement with the Marcos family.”

He noted the proposal was still not acted upon by the Palace.

Roque further clarified President Rodrigo Duterte will leave it to the Congress to determine whether the Marcoses will be granted immunity, as there was a House bill filed to do so.

President Duterte earlier said he talked with members of the Marcos family to come up with a compromise agreement for their wealth

To recall, the President allowed the burial of Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani in November 2016. The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the burial in a ruling thay became final in August last year. (PNA)