DOJ chief won’t probe deals with Calida firm

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday defended Solicitor General Jose Calida from charges involving the contract of his family’s security agency with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Guevarra said there is nothing anomalous in the contract with Calida’s Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. (VISAI), which a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman tagged as conflict of interest, in violation of Republic Act No. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

“It’s a private security agency, not the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) or the SolGen, who entered into the contracts with the DOJ. Let’s presume that the contracts were validly entered into, unless it could be shown that procurement laws were not observed,” Guevarra told reporters.

“From the viewpoint of the DOJ, what is important is that all procurement laws, rules and regulations were observed when it entered into these contracts,” he stressed.

Guevarra also explained that there is no need to order an internal inquiry on the matter “unless there’s a challenge to the validity of the contracts.”

The DOJ chief made the statement after opposition senators called for the resignation of Calida over the P150-million contracts bagged by VISAI in at least 10 government agencies, including the DOJ.

Apart from the DOJ, Calida’s security agency bagged contracts with the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Calida won’t divest shares

While Calida explained that he did not violate RA 6713 after resigning from his post as president and chairman of VISAI prior to his appointment as solicitor general in 2016, he admitted that he has not divested his 60-percent shares in the family business.

“That he has not yet divested his interest in said enterprise is of no moment since the requirement of the law is either to resign from the management of the enterprise and/or divest himself of his interest in it,” the embattled solicitor general argued in a statement released Monday night.

Calida insisted that he has not violated the law, which specifically prohibits a government official from holding interest in a private firm with contracts or transactions requiring approval of his office or a private firm that is regulated or licensed by his office.

“To reiterate, the Office of the Solicitor General is not the approving authority for the subject contracts, which were all obtained through public bidding in accordance with the law. Neither is the OSG in the business of licensing, regulating or supervising security agencies such as Vigilant,” he argued.

The solicitor general also clarified that his firm did not earn P150 million from the contracts – as reported in the media – saying “only a small percentage is left as agency fee” as the bulk of payments were to salaries of guards and mandatory contributions to the Social Security System and Pag-IBIG.

The Palace had earlier defended Calida, believing that the allegations hurled against the solicitor general came from his enemies who are trying to get back at him after securing the ouster of chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno from the Supreme Court.

The complaint against Calida was filed with the ombudman earlier this month by private citizen Jocelyn Acosta, who accused him of violating RA 6713.

Acosta is the same private citizen who requested Calida’s office to initiate a quo warranto case against Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro the same way he did against Sereno.

But Calida rejected the request, citing lack of evidence that De Castro also violated the law by not filing her complete statements of assets, liabilities and net worth like Sereno.

Party-list Rep. Tom Villarin of Akbayan said yesterday Calida should be investigated and charged for conflict of interest in his security agency’s contracts with several government agencies.

“There should be no sacred cow here just because you are close to President Duterte. Just a whiff of corruption but here, we have a heap of dung that really smells bad,” he said.?He said conflict of interest is manifest in the P151 million worth of contracts Calida’s security agency has obtained from several government offices, including the House of Representatives. 

He pointed out that though Calida has resigned as chairman and president of VISAI before taking over the OSG, the solicitor general still owns 60 percent of the company two months after being in office, while his wife and three children share the remaining 40 percent.

“Another family close to the President dipping into the government’s coffers. This is becoming a common refrain in the Duterte Cabinet after the Tulfo-Teo scandal,” he added.

Former tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo resigned amid the controversial P60-million advertisement the tourism department placed on her brother’s television show on the state-owned PTV4.

For his part, Rep. Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers asked why presidential spokesman Harry Roque is defending the solicitor general.

“Why is the presidential spokesperson lawyering for Solgen Calida? Secrectary Roque is preposterously arguing that there is no conflict of interest in Calida’s security agency cornering P151 million in government contracts,” he said.

He said the Palace spokesman’s statement shows the “double standard in President Duterte’s so-called campaign against corruption within his own Cabinet.”  With Jess Diaz