Solgen wants more powers
As if his workload is not enough, controversial Solicitor General Jose Calida is seeking more powers from Congress.
He wants to take over the authority and functions of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
Calida has submitted to the House of Representatives a draft bill that would abolish the OGCC and PCGG and transfer their powers to his office.
The Office of the Solicitor General is the lawyer of the government, while OGCC serves as counsel for state corporations. As for the PCGG, the late president Corazon Aquino created it to recover billions in alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
Calida has become controversial for his support for the appeal of suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles for the reversal of her conviction of the crime of illegally detaining her former aide and relative Benhur Luy, a key witness in the Pri- ority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel scam cases.
Senators and congressmen have criticized the government’s lawyer for intervening in the case and supporting Napoles’ appeal.
They said Calida’s unwarranted intervention would affect the pork barrel cases that involve billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money.
House leaders said yesterday they would consider Calida’s proposal for his office to take over the functions of OGCC and PCGG.
During a hearing of the committee on good government this week, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he was inclined to support the proposed abolition of OGCC.
“It has not won a single case for the government. It has not done its job well,” he said.
Alvarez made the statement during the inquiry on the P3.2-billion casino space lease contract the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) signed in November 2014 with Vanderwood Management Corp.
He said former Pagcor officials led by chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. advanced P234 million to Vanderwood for the space in a hotel that was yet to be built and which up to now is still not finished.
The hotel is being constructed at the former site of the Army and Navy Club near the Luneta Park in Manila.
The Manila city government owns the property and leased it to Oceanville Hotel and Spa Corp. for P300,000 a month.
Oceanville, in turn, sublet it for the same amount to Vanderwood, which leased 6,500 square meters to Pagcor for P13 million a month.
The P234 million, which Naguiat has admitted was advanced to Vanderwood, represented rentals for 12 months and security deposit.
“The casino space you leased is not there. In effect, what you are leasing is just air,” Alvarez told the former Pagcor chief.
He faulted Naguiat and the OGCC for what he described as “a contract that is grossly disadvantageous to the government.”