Guevarra vows to restore “dignified image” of DOJ

April 6, 2018

New Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra sworn on Friday to restore the “dignified image” of the Department of Justice (DOJ) amid recent controversies.

Guevarra revealed that President Rodrigo Duterte entrusted him with a mission to carry out reforms that would bring back the people’s trust to the DOJ and carrying out its primary goal of administering justice to all.

“The President told me to bring back the DOJ’s dignified image,” Guevarra, a former Senior Deputy Executive Secretary at the Office of the President, said, in a text message to reporters on Friday.

Duterte designated Guevarra on Thursday as the new DOJ secretary after accepting Aguirre’s resignation.

Aguirre, along with his wife, Marissa Lim, bid goodbye to employees and officials of the DOJ after attending the monthly First Friday Mass at the DOJ.

Aguirre, wearing his fraternity jacket, was accompanied by Justice Undersecretaries Reynante Orceo, Deo Marco, Raymund Mecate, and Antonio Kho. They are all fraternity brothers of  Duterte at Lex Talionis in San Beda.

As a parting message to his DOJ colleagues, Aguirre thanked Duterte for the “trust and the confidence he reposed on me as his first Secretary of Justice.”

“I am equally thankful for the opportunity to have served our countrymen as the steward of your DOJ. In our own humble way, we have delivered on our promise to make the DOJ better than when we found it,” Aguirre said.

“As I leave the Department of Justice, I find comfort in the thought that, by our collective efforts,” we have improved the DOJ in key areas. We have achieved this by hard work and indomitable faith in the protection, providence and guidance of the Almighty,” he added.

Before leaving the DOJ, Aguirre asked employees and officials to welcome Sec. Guevarra and his team “with the same degree of enthusiasm and cooperation.”

Guevarra said he was “overwhelmed” with Duterte’s confidence in him. “The president seldom sees me, yet he entrusts such a sensitive position to me. I’m overwhelmed with such confidence,” he said.

Duterte administered the oath of office to Gueverra also on Thursday after signing his appointment paper.

The former Malacañang official could not give a date on when he will report for work at the DOJ, saying his priority now is to wind up his affairs at the Office of the Executive Secretary. DMS