New justice chief vows to fix ‘corroded’ DOJ

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday vowed to address what he branded as a “huge image problem” of the agency.

Speaking during his first flag-raising ceremony as head of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Guevarra lamented how the department has been “corroded inside” because of controversies that recently hounded it, including the dismissal of drug charges against confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa and the provisional coverage in the witness protection program of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

“I hate to say that our department as well as most agencies attached to it are suffering from a huge image problem. The building remains the same outside but it’s somehow corroded inside,” he told prosecutors and DOJ personnel.

“It looks solid but its structural integrity is suspect, both literally and metaphorically, so it is my personal mission to restore the DOJ’s dignified and respectable image to make it a cornerstone and not a mere pillar of our justice system,” Guevarra said.

But the new DOJ chief, who replaced resigned secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, appealed to the employees for cooperation to pursue reforms in the department.

“I can’t do it alone. I need you – all of you – to start an inner revolution of our values to adopt an attitude that puts premium on the interest of the people we serve, especially the underprivileged and the oppressed over and above our individual selfinterest,” he stressed.

As for this plans in the DOJ, he reiterated that he would review actions taken on the Espinosa and Napoles cases as his top priorities.

Guevarra also vowed to give special attention to cases involving illegal drugs and terrorism in line with President Duterte’s policies.

“He (Duterte) just reminded me to put special focus on the prosecution of crimes on illegal drugs and terrorism,” he bared.

Guevarra said he would leave the handling of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), which is under the administrative control of the department, to incoming Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald dela Rosa.

Lastly, he revealed that the President authorized him to remove officials of the department involved in any anomaly.

“He gave me a free hand to replace people, to bring his honor to the Department of Justice,” he said.

Guevarra said the President would not intervene in his way of performing his duties.

“The President said if any of his relatives approached me and asked for favors, consider it denied,” he added.

Guevarra believes he would be able to perform his duties and meet the expectations of the President “for as long as I follow the rule of law.”

He also vowed to look into the allegation that former justice secretary Aguirre had ordered the destruction of documents in his office before his resignation earlier this month.

In a statement, Aguirre described as “malicious” a newspaper report that accused him of ordering the shredding of documents from his office.

“Foremost, I did not order any of my personnel to shred documents during my last day in office at the DOJ. If any shredding was done, I know nothing about it,” he stressed.

The news report is downright malicious and very irresponsible journalism, he lamented.

Aguirre explained that even if documents were destroyed, there was nothing automatically wrong with it.

He believes it could have been done to prepare the office for the incoming justice secretary.

“We can even surmise that it was done to get rid of unneeded or unwanted documents. In fact, shredding of documents is being regularly done in public and private offices,” he added.

Reports said that utility workers and DOJ employees showed to the media photos of plastic bags of shredded DOJ documents after Aguirre’s resignation last April 5. It was not clear, however, what the shredded documents contained.