Bill that will abolish OGCC, PCGG and strengthen OSG passes House committee

The House Committee on Justice approved yesterday a substitute bill that seeks to abolish the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and transfer their functions to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

The panel, chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali passed the bill seeking to strengthen the OSG before it resumed its impeachment hearing against Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

Leyte Rep. Vicente “Ching” S. Veloso, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Judicial Reforms, moved for the approval of the consolidated bill.

Under the substitute bill, the powers and functions exercised by the GOCC and the PCGG will be transferred to the OSG.

Veloso said the bill seeks the creation of a special task force of at least five divisions that shall assume the function of the PCGG and keep an eye on the recovery of the Marcos ill-gotten wealth. “This means that at least 50 lawyers from the OSG will be tasked to recover ill-gotten wealth and pursue cases that have already been initiated by the PCGG,” he said.

He said the bill also includes the absorption of PCGG and OGCC officials and employees who chose not to avail of the retirement and separation benefits as long as they possess the necessary eligibility and qualifications for the corresponding positions in the OSG.

The House panel also approved the committee report to endorse the plenary approval of the measure.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, principal author of the bill said it seeks to "eliminate overlapping of functions, address the expanding needs of GOCCs for legal representation, and enhance government efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth and investigate and prosecute related cases.”

"The consolidation of the legal services in the OSG will specifically promote the wiser and more prudent use of public funds since this will do away with the practice of the OGCC of billing client GOCCs for legal services rendered,” he said.

Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas cited the need to strengthen the OSG as an institution and provide its lawyers and employees benefits and privileges already being enjoyed by their counterparts in other government offices.

"This will ensure that the OSG is able to faithfully, effectively, and efficiently perform its mandate to uphold State interest. Towards this end, Congress must amend the present OSG Law, Republic Act 9417," he said.

Currently, each Solicitor handles an average of 3,000 cases.

The House leadership proposed that the OSG be attached to the Office of the President for budgetary purposes. Under the Revised Administrative Code of 1987, the OSG is attached to the Department of Justice (DoJ).

"This amendment is necessary to make the OSG a truly independent and autonomous office. Attaching the OSG to the OP would be a recognition of the OSG's distinct function and position in the executive branch,” Alvarez and Fariñas said.

Other authors of the bill are Reps. Umali, Joaquin Chipeco, Jr., Romero “Miro” Quimbo, Evelina Escudero, Rodel Batocabe, and Gary Alejano.