Sec Aguirre Denied Involvement in Bribery Scandal

Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre DOJ

In the latest Senate hearing on the bribery scandal involving top officials of the Bureau of Immigration, Secretary of Justice Vitaliano Aguirre denied his alleged involvement in the bribery case. "I could not be bribed." This is the statement of Aguirre when asked about his alleged participation or knowledge of the P50 million given to 2 BI commissioners.

Associate Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, both frat brothers of Aguirre and President Duterte, denied that they have asked money from Jack Lam or retired Police Senior Superintendent Wally Sombero Jr. Sombero acted as the middleman for Lam and tried to negotiate the release of the Chinese nationals who were arrested in Fontana late last year. However, the testimony of these BI officials have failed to convince the Senators.

Meanwhile, Secretary Aguirre was forced to apologize to some senators for insinuating that they have a sinister plot to implicate him in the bribery scandal. Aguirre apologized to Senator Francis Pangilinan and Senator DeLima during the hearing on Tuesday.