JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Wednesday suggested that political opponents of President Rodrigo Duterte were plotting to destabilize the government, but was forced to retract his allegation that they met with influential clans in Marawi City on May 2, three weeks before the Maute terrorist group overran the city.
In his earlier statement, Aguirre said Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano and former presidential adviser on political affairs Ronald Llamas met with Moro families at a resort in Marawi City on May 2, and suggested the meeting could be part of a plot to destabilize the government.
But all the people named by Aguirre denied his allegations and could prove they were elsewhere on May 2.
“For the record, I am not involved in any way with the Maute group or the Marawi incident. I also did not have any meeting in Marawi in May 2 since I haven’t visited Marawi for the past three years,” Trillanes said. “But don’t take my word for it. Simply check the Senate records for May 2. The incompetence of Aguirre is only matched by his stupidity. I would advise him to avoid getting his intel from Facebook conspiracy theorists.”
Aquino also denied being at a May 2 meeting in Marawi City.
“Is fake news enough for the head of our country’s Department of Justice to make these outrageous allegations?” the senator said.
Aquino said on May 2, he was the guest speaker during the commencement exercise of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. He added he also attended the Senate session that same day.
“My trip to Marawi was on May 19, 2017 to launch the first Negosyo Center in the ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] and I had with me an AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] escort throughout my trip, which can easily be verified through the AFP,” Aquino said.
He also said Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez confirmed he was in Marawi City for the Negosyo Center launch.
“These are easily verifiable for anyone who cares to find the truth. It would be prudent for Secretary Aguirre to clarify dates, seek evidence and request for official statements from legitimate government agencies before he makes yet another false accusation,” he said.
“This tragedy could have been an opportunity to unite the Philippines against a common enemy. Instead, it’s being used to further political interests and further divide our country,” he added.
Alejano denied the May 2 meeting said Aguirre was a “peddler of lies and prosecutor of people” who oppose the administration.
“Such a statement is irresponsible considering that the government has all the resources and manpower to validate any information before blurting out names in public,” Alejano said.
“Aguirre’s objective is just to destroy our reputation by feeding these lies to our detractors and their paid trolls [on] social media.”
Llamas also branded Aguirre’s revelation as “fake news.”
“That’s very interesting. If not for the tragic events in Marawi that would even be very funny. But I no longer want to dignify fake news,” he said.
He added that a photo that Aguirre showed allegedly showing the May 2 meeting was actually taken at the Iloilo airport in 2015.
Llamas added that he wasn’t even in the country on May 2, and suggested that Aguirre check with the Bureau of Immigration.
At his press briefing, Aguirre said the anti-administration politicians met with members of the Lucman and Alonto clans, Aguirre said, but could not say if the Maute family was also at the meeting.
“They met with Moro families there. We don’t want to speculate, but two [sic] weeks after they went there, this siege happened,” Aguirre said.
He showed members of the press a photo supposedly of the meeting, but did not provide them copies of it.
Aguirre called on intelligence agencies of the military and the police to look into it, saying the link between the meeting was “possible” or even “probable.”
He said investigators should determine if money had been brought to the May 2 meeting—and if that ended in the P52.2 million in cash that had been seized from a Maute group house in Marawi City.
Also on Wednesday, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said studies showed that violent extremists around the world “often exploit the conditions brought about by poverty to recruit men who have very limited economic and employment prospects.”
He said the development of economy and infrastructure in Mindanao could prove to be the government’s most effective weapons against terrorism and extremism, as bringing jobs and economic opportunities can aid efforts to thwart attempts to radicalize youth in the region.
“The discovery of over P50 million in cash in a Marawi home suggests that the financial rewards of joining terrorist groups like the Maute or ASG [Abu Sayyaf Group] play a role in attracting recruits to their cause,” he said.
On Wednesday, military officials presented to the media more than P79 million in cash and checks they recovered from a fallen Maute group house in Marawi City, where fighting continues. With John Paolo Bencito and Rio N. Araja