Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II claimed that in a one-on-one meeting requested by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, he was asked to “tone down” concerns regarding danger and security in his request to the Supreme Court that Maute-related cases be transferred from Cagayan De Oro City to Taguig City.
Aguirre said this happened last June 19, 2017 and that he met with Sereno out of “basic courtesy.”
“In our meeting it was just the two of us, she told me, Secretary, with respect to your request I hope that you tone down the contents of the letter that you are going to make,” Aguirre recalled.
Aquirre said that Sereno told him that the content of his letter should highlight the need for the military to focus their efforts on fighting Maute terrorists as “transferring the cases would free the military from the aspect of taking care of detaining these individuals so they could fully focus on fighting the Maute terrorists.”
Heeding the advice of Sereno, Aguirre said he eventually changed the focus of his letter.
DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 11/ 28 /17