Aguirre: Rody not behind Jaybee slay try

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II yesterday denied allegations that President Duterte was behind the attempt to kill high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian last September inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Aguirre told a press conference that the insinuation publicly made by Sen. Leila de Lima has no basis.

“What will the President get if Sebastian is killed? If I were the President, I would want Sebastian to live so he could speak and divulge the truth,” he said.

Aguirre said De Lima could not even produce a single witness or evidence to support her insinuations.

Aguirre believes De Lima’s allegation could be a diversionary tactic since she is being implicated in the stabbing of Sebastian by the attacker himself – inmate Tomas Doniña.

“Who would have the motive to harm Jaybee ( Sebastian)? Who is the one who has been worrying about Jaybee testifying? Is it really President Duterte?” he stressed.

Aguirre recalled how De Lima was daring the DOJ to present Sebastian before the House of Representatives in the inquiry on proliferation of illegal drug trade in NBP.

“She thought we couldn’t do that because she was really close to Jaybee. Apparently, Jaybee even named her as his protector,” he said.

Aguirre also slammed De Lima for resorting to namecalling in addressing the latest allegations against her.

Aguirre branded De Lima’s response as “frailties of her character.”

“Instead of facing the charges filed against her with concrete evidence in the many opportunities given to her, she can only come up with names for me like a despicable lying bastard, a chronic liar, a secretary of justice without balls. It is indeed not the kind of conduct that the Filipino people expected from a public official of her stature,” he said.

“I can only pray for her. Please join me in praying for her.”

Bad hair day

Aguirre also took exception to De Lima’s accusation that his hair is fake.

“Why is Senator De Lima so fixated on my hair? My hair is the frailty of my scalp, it is the frailty of my genes, there is nothing that can be done about it,” he said.

Aguirre advised De Lima to address the charges against her instead of resorting to namecalling.

“Instead of focusing on me, why not focus on defending herself in the many cases she is facing? Where are her pieces of evidence in support of her denials? Denials without supporting evidence is a weak defense, a very weak defense,” he said.

Aguirre reminded De Lima that the allegations on her alleged involvement in the attempt on Sebastian’s life did not come from him.

“She should know that I only quoted from the affidavit of inmate Tomas Doniña relative to the stabbing incident. I did not add anything to the affidavit. Those were not my words but Doniña’s,” he pointed out.

Apart from De Lima, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and the Liberal Party were also dragged into the controversy after Doniña cited them in his affidavit released by the DOJ earlier this week.

Earlier, Aguirre revealed De Lima had been tagged in threats against Sebastian that led to his transfer from the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City to the National Bureau of Investigation main office in Manila last week.

Sebastian had testified in the House last Oct. 10 and tagged De Lima in the illegal drug trade in NBP.