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.

I am equally thankful for the opportunity to have served our countrymen as the steward of your DOJ.

In our own humble way, we have delivered on our promise to make the DOJ better than when we found it.

                              - Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II

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.

I thank all our undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and the other officials of the DOJ and all of the agencies under the DOJ family for welcoming me with open arms and for all their support and cooperation. The DOJ is better not because of me but because everybody committed heart, body and soul to march towards a single cadence.

I salute the good men and women of the DOJ for showing me how it is to serve selflessly in government. 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.  I am not sad that it has ended, rather I am thankful that it happened. I am eternally grateful to all!

Moving forward, I humbly ask everyone to welcome with the same degree of enthusiasm and cooperation, more if need be, the team of incoming Secretary Menard Guevarra.

There is only one DOJ, let us love and serve it to the best of our abilities.

Mabuhay po ang DOJ, mabuhay po kayong lahat!