NATION | De Lima irked at Aguirre’s statement anew

Sen. Leila De Lima

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Leila De Lima and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre were at each other’s throat again during the Senate hearing on the bribery scandal involving some Bureau of Immigration officials.

De Lima was first to castigate Aguirre after the lady senator reprimanded former Immigration deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles to refrain from following the act of their former “boss”, whom she called as “banat-bawi”, or someone of keeps on retracting their statement.
De Lima mentioned Aguirre as the former boss of Argosino and Robles, because the two were fired from their posts in the Bureau of Immigration.

However, Aguirre immediately fired back at De Lima and said that Wally Sombero offered him money to back Jack Lam, who was left with no backer since he assumed his post at the Justice Department.

The lady Senator then reacted and said that this is a new accusation from Aguirre. Word war ensued between the two personalities.

De Lima served as Justice Secretary during the Aquino administration, and was replaced by Aguirre when President Rodrigo Duterte assumed post. -  Rita Salonga/RHNews