Calida won’t resign, denies violating any law

MANILA, Philippines — There’s no way he is giving in to calls for his resignation, Solicitor General Jose Calida stressed yesterday as he vowed to contest accusations of wrongdoing over his family’s security agency’s bagging multimillion-peso contracts with the government.

He also denied the accusation of an extramarital affair with a 22-year-old law student and on-the-job trainee.

“No. Why should I (resign)? I’ve been a lawyer since 1974. I can handle all the attacks. The question is, can they handle my counter-attack?” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

President Duterte on Wednesday defended him, saying there’s nothing wrong with government officials engaging in legitimate business.

Calida expressed confidence he would be vindicated before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Opposition Sens. Francis Pangilinan, Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros led calls for his resignation.

“I was wondering why the good Sen. Kiko Pangilinan is asking for my resignation. Did I commit graft? No, I did not... I understand where he’s coming from; he’s the president of the Liberal Party,” he pointed out.

He claimed that those attacking him and calling for his resignation were getting back at him for winning cases for the government, especially the quo warranto case against chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

“They’re angry with me because I won the quo warranto case... Had I lost the case, they would not have attacked me like this,” he said.

Apart from the quo warranto, the solicitor general had won other big cases for the administration before the Supreme Court, including the burial of dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, drug cases against De Lima and the martial law declaration in Mindanao.

Calida also expressed belief he does not have to discuss with the President the matter regarding his family-owned security firm.

“My conscience is clear and there’s no reason why I should bother the President with this problem,” he explained.

In the same interview, the solicitor general also belied the allegation in a complaint of Jocelyn Acosta that he was having an extramarital affair with a 22-year-old law student.

“That’s big, fat lie. This woman admits she has no evidence,” he said, referring to Acosta. “What she’s saying is actually a concoction – a vicious, malicious concoction.” He accused Acosta of “rumor mongering.”

“They want to destroy my family and I will not forgive them for that. There will be a day of reckoning,” he maintained.

Calida said he was preparing legal actions against those “who are maligning me, slandering me, libeling me.”

Calida reiterated there was no violation of Republic Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials) when Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. (VISAI) owned by his family bagged contracts with at least 10 government agencies, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

He explained that his resignation as president of VISAI was in compliance with the law.

“Under the law, I have choice to either resign from my post or divest my shares,” he explained, citing Section 9 of RA 6713. With 60 percent stake in the agency, he is a majority owner of VISAI. His wife, he said, has taken over the presidency of the agency.

He said the law only prohibits a government official from owning or having shares in a private firm with any transaction that requires the approval of his government office or a company that is regulated or licensed by the same office.

Still, Calida said he welcomes the plan of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to look into his security firm’s contract with the DOJ to determine if any law has been violated despite the presumption of regularity.

“I agree with what Secretary Guevarra said that there is a procurement law that must be followed. They have the right to check the contract. I have no problem with that,” he pointed out.

“If there will be actual conflict, then I will divest. We cannot anticipate what lies in the future, you are required to divest if there is actual conflict of interest,” he added. 

Acosta filed the complaint of violation of RA 6713 against Calida early May.

She was the same private citizen who dared Calida’s office to initiate a quo warranto case against Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro for the latter’s incomplete statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, the same offense cited in the quo warranto case against Sereno.

Calida rejected Acosta’s request, citing lack of evidence.

Malacañang said the justice department’s plan to look into the deals bagged by Calida’s security agency is the “better course of action” than the Senate’s plan to investigate him. – With Alexis Romero

Related video: