Fruitful, OSG says of myriad cases it handled
The year that just ended — 2022 — was a fruitful one for the Office of the Solicitor General, or so former Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra reckoned.
According to Guevarra, now wearing the Solicitor General’s hat, his office handled last year very significant cases that would benefit not only the government but the general public, as well.
Those cases, Guevarra said, involved, among other areas of concern, rice smuggling, fishing regulations, extending the validity of driver’s license, environmental issues (Kaliwa Dam), power rate adjustments and Covid health regulations (no-vaccine, no-ride policy).
They also included major tax appeals, expropriation for flagship infrastructure projects (about 8,200 cases), the constitutionality of the Public Service Act, the postponement of barangay elections, and the no-contact apprehension policy or NCAP.
During oral arguments for NCAP, Guevarra urged the Supreme Court to immediately lift the temporary restraining order against the policy being implemented by several local government units in Metro Manila.
He made the appeal before the Supreme Court en banc, arguing for the LGUs, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and the Land Transportation Office.
Said petitions were “ruefully inadequate” to invoke the High Court’s power of judicial review, saying they have “no locus standi,” a requirement that is “not to be lightly trifled with.”
“Locus standi demands that those who petition relief from this Court establish not only a right but also a clear actual or threatened injury arising from the violation of such right,” the OSG said.
The SolGen said issues regarding the NCAP’s supposed violation of privacy should be lodged before the National Privacy Commission and not the High Court.
Guevarra maintained that the NCAP is one of the solutions to the worsening traffic situation directly related to the ballooning number of vehicles in Metro Manila.
The OSG also handled international cases such as the ICC prosecutor’s request to continue the investigation of the Philippine campaign against illegal drugs, the arbitration complaint of the Light Rail Manila Corp. versus the Department of Transportation, and the Malampaya project arbitration case.
The OSG asked the International Criminal Court to deny the request of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to resume the investigation on the war on drugs during the Duterte administration.