(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, June 3, again defended Solicitor General Jose Calida over the allegations of conflict of interest against him.
Speaking to Filipinos in South Korea, Duterte said Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. was a business “inherited” by Calida from his father long before he was appointed as SolGen.
“Why should I fire him?…Basta may bidding lahat, anything in government basta may bidding ka, walang problema, okay ‘yan. Kung siya ang nanalo, eh di siya,” the President, a lawyer, added.
The President, however, did not comment on a recent Commission on Audit report flagging the receipt of supposedly excessive allowances by Calida and several other lawyers in the OSG.
In a television interview last week, Calida defended himself from the allegations of conflict of interest against him, saying the company, from which he resigned as chairman and president but owns 60 percent of the shares, did not always win contracts in government.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, also a lawyer, also defended Calida.
Guevarra said from a legal standpoint, a shareholder and an owner were treated differently.
He said a company took a life on its own when it bids for projects.
As for Roque, he said Calida was merely a shareholder and did not exercise “management powers.”
The OSG has also defended Calida’s and other OSG lawyers’ receipt of over P10 million in allowances, saying a COA circular that places a cap on the allowances to be received does not prevail over the law, such as Republic Act No. 9417.
RA No. 9417 essentially says that OSG lawyers may receive honoraria without any cap to the amount.
“To allow COA Circular No. 85-25-E to prevail would violate the constitutional prohibition against impairment of contracts,” COA said.
