Agra has long been insider in Arroyo government

Justice Secretary Alberto Agra, who on Friday made a controversial decision to clear two Ampatuan clan members in the November 23 Maguindanao massacre case, has a long record of working for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Agra, who concurrently serves as solicitor-general, served as Mrs. Arroyo’s lawyer when congressmen tried to impeach her in 2006. A year later, President Arroyo appointed Agra into government as head of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, the agency that acts as counsel for government-owned and controlled corporations. He was appointed as acting head of the government-owned Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Regulatory Office in 2008, a post he later quit due to conflict-of-interest allegations. On March 3 this year, Agra was named acting Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary after former DOJ secretary Agnes Devanadera resigned to seek a congressional seat in Quezon province. As Justice chief, Agra currently sits as a member of the eight-man Judicial and Bar Council, the body that chooses nominees to the judiciary, including the Supreme Court chief justice. Agra also recently defended Mrs. Arroyo’s move to appoint numerous officials to key government posts despite constitutional ban on appointments two months before the elections. Besides government work, the acting DOJ chief teaches at the Ateneo School of Law, and is the former executive director of Saligan, a civic organization offering legal assistance to the poor. - RJAB Jr./HS, GMANews.TV