MANILA, Philippines — After barely two years, Vitaliano Aguirre II has ended his controversial stint as chief of the Department of Justice (DOJ), saying he had no regrets and was even “thankful.”

Aguirre, in a statement on his resignation that was accepted the other day, expressed his gratitude to President Duterte and to his former subordinates.

“I am not sad that it has ended, rather I am thankful that it happened. I am eternally grateful to all,” Aguirre declared. He assumed the top DOJ post in July 2016.

“I sincerely thank our beloved President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, for the trust and the confidence he reposed on me as his first secretary of justice,” Aguirre said, adding he was proud of leaving behind a “better” DOJ.

Duterte was Aguirre’s law school classmate and Lex Talionis fraternity brother at the San Beda College.

“In our own humble way, we have delivered on our promise to make the DOJ better than when we found it,” he said, addressing DOJ officials and personnel.

“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 said.

“The DOJ is better not because of me but because everybody committed heart, body and soul to march in a single cadence,” he added.

He said he found inspiration in the selfless dedication of DOJ employees.

“You have provided me the inspiration to lead by walking beside me, never behind me nor ahead of me, from Day One. I will cherish the bonds formed, the friendships made and the memories we shared,” he said.

He asked DOJ officials and employees to extend the same cooperation to his successor, Menardo Guevarra. “There is only one DOJ, let us love and serve it to the best of our abilities,” he said.

Aguirre for the last time attended the noontime first Friday mass at the lobby of the DOJ with his wife Marissa. He was wearing a Lex Talionis jacket.

Justice Undersecretary Eric Balmes said Aguirre had started packing up his things.

‘Thanks be to God’

Two Catholic bishops welcomed Aguirre’s exit. “Thanks be to God that he resigned. He is so erratic as secretary in his sense of justice. The decision is good for him and the country,” Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said.

As to the incoming DOJ secretary, Pabillo said he was not familiar with Guevarra and could only hope that he would serve the cause of justice.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said he also felt happy about Aguirre’s resignation.

“He is not doing his job well as a secretary of justice. His exoneration of self-confessed drug lords is a sign of his bias for the rich and powerful even if they are criminals,” he said.

“His act encourages drug lords to continue their criminal activities and the proliferation of extrajudicial killings and murders. He is a Secretary of Injustice! But we hope that his replacement will do better than him,” he added.

A day after Aguirre’s resignation was announced, the bribery cases involving his former men, immigration commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, were raffled to a different Sandiganbayan justice yesterday. The Bureau of Immigration is under the DOJ.

The court’s Sixth Division, chaired by Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez, was chosen to handle the cases, which used to be in the sala of Associate Justice Alex Quiroz of the Fourth Division.

De Quiroz decided to inhibit, saying he was “an acquaintance of one of the accused.”

The cases were in connection with the alleged extortion of Macau-based gambling tycoon Jack Lam in 2016. Quiroz did not say which of the respondents was his “acquaintance.” Administration critics said Aguirre was aware of or may have even condoned the shakedown.

Also named respondent in the plunder, graft and direct bribery cases was retired police officer Wenceslao Sombero Jr.

Lam was named as a co-accused in the case of violation of Presidential Decree 46, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts, presents or money from a private person.

Sombero filed a motion seeking the dismissal of the charges against him.

In his 18-page motion to quash, Sombero said the facts contained in the case information sheet do not constitute the offense of plunder.

The cases, filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, stemmed from Argosino’s and Robles’ alleged receipt of a total of P50-million bribe money from Lam in exchange for the release of 1,316 Chinese nationals working at Lam’s Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga.

The ombudsman said Sombero handed the bribe money to Argosino and Robles at the City of Dreams Hotel and Casino in Parañaque on Nov. 27, 2016. Sombero was at the time president of Asian Gaming Service Providers Association Inc. Aguirre had announced the cases against his subordinates should be downgraded from plunder because the P50-million hoard turned out to be short of P1,000.

Meanwhile, Peter Lim asked the new panel of prosecutors formed last month by Aguirre to conduct a separate preliminary investigation of his drug case to “spare him from prejudice and confusion arising from the muddled issues, unrelated testimonies and irrelevant and immaterial pieces of evidence.”

Lim’s legal counsel Magilyn Loja, in a six-page motion, said “a separate preliminary investigation will likewise uphold Mr. Lim’s right to the speedy disposition of his case.” – Elizabeth Marcelo