SolGen Calida firm on shade limit

MANILA, Philippines — Solicitor General Jose Calida yesterday stood firm on his move to oppose Vice President Leni Robredo’s appeal against the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) ruling that set the 50-percent shading threshold for validity of votes in the ongoing election recount on 2016 vice presidential race.

Calida rebutted the criticism from the camp of Robredo, who claimed that he should have represented the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the electoral protest case filed by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and support their position that the PET should follow the 25-percent threshold used by the poll body during canvassing of votes.

In a brief statement posted on his official Twitter account, Calida invoked his power as the “tribune of the people” and drop the position of his client government agency.

“As the People’s Tribune, it is the Solicitor General’s duty to present to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal the position he perceives to be in the best interest of the Republic, notwithstanding the stance of his client, specifically the Comelec, on the issue,” he stressed.

Calida further explained that the Supreme Court has acknowledged this authority of his office in its decision on Pimentel vs. Comelec in 2001, which held that “the Solicitor General may, as it has in instances, take a position adverse and contrary to that of the Government on the reasoning that it is incumbent upon him to present to the court what he considers would legally uphold the best interest of the government although it may run counter to a client’s position.”

Former solicitor general Florin Hilbay invoked the same power in the case involving the Torre de Manila condominium in Manila when he dropped the National Historical Commission of the Philippines as a client in the 2015 case also due to differing positions.

Calida issued the statement after Robredo slammed him for dropping the position of the Comelec and even called him the “number one Marcos supporter.”

Calida reportedly campaigned for Marcos in the 2016 elections and has defended the Duterte administration’s decision to bury Marcos’ father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

In his 21-page manifestation filed last July 6, he asked the PET to deny the appeal of Robredo and instead affirm its resolution last April 10, which invalidated votes shaded by less than 50 percent in the ongoing manual recount.

He said the Comelec would file its own position on the issue through its legal division.