(Eagle News) — Solicitor General Jose Calida and his family have asked the Supreme Court to stop Senator Antonio Trillanes IV from conducting his own probe into their security agency’s contracts with the government.
In seeking a temporary restraining order or a permanent injunction on the inquiry which starts on Aug. 16, Calida, his wife Milagros and children Josef, Michelle, and Mark Jorel said such a probe into Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency’s contracts will result in an “unjustified invasion” of affairs, as Trillanes will “intrude into questions that fall outside of a defined subject matter and delve into extraneous issues.”
They said they will therefore “be unduly and irreparably prejudiced, along with Vigilant, which has carried out legitimate operation since 2001.”
“Moreover, the likelihood of (Trillanes) extracting evidence to be used against petitioners is high, and will result in the infringement of the petitioners’ constitutional rights against self-incrimination and to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” they said.
“Void” probe
Calida and his kin also criticized the inquiry itself, which they said was “void” as it is “intended to prosecute an alleged conflict of interest that does not meet” legal standards.
They said the probe was also “intended to divert from the standards set” in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and “will incur the use of public funds for an illegal or unauthorized misappropriation.”
In their petition, Calida and his family also asked the SC to declare as “void and unconstitutional” Trillanes’ invitation for them to appear at the Senate, as they were “issued in respondent’s sole capacity only or without the authority of the Senate or any of its Committees and for serving no legislative purpose.”
According to Calida, the letters dated August 1, said they were invited to the probe so that “various issues arising from Proposed Resolution No. 760” could be threshed out.
Calida made headlines after reports said his family’s security agency had cornered contracts with several government agencies, including the Department of Justice, worth P200 million.
The reports came out after Calida successfully ousted Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice with his quo warranto petition.
But Calida said he already stepped down as chairman of the security firm.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also noted that it was “a private security agency, not the [Office of the Solicitor General] or the SolGen, who entered into the contracts with the DOJ.”
What is important for the DOJ then, he said, was that “all procurement laws, rules and regulations were observed when it entered into these contracts.”