Solicitor General Jose Calida has denied allegations made by Vice President Leni Robredo on the supposed one million-case backlog of his office and his participation in the preparation of the sedition charges purportedly to benefit former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Calida described as “ill-advised” Robredo’s allegation that the Office of the Solicitor General has a backlog of over a million cases since 2017 because it has been busy running after critics of the Duterte administration.
The Solicitor General said that the insinuation was based on a Commission on Audit report for 2017 and 2018, which is a mischaracterization of the actual status of the pending cases as “backlog.”
“These figures do not refer to cases that have not been acted upon by the OSG. These figures simply refer to cases which are still pending before various courts and quasi-judicial bodies,” Calida said, in a statement.
According to Calida, Robredo is apparently unaware of “functions and internal workings of the OSG.”
The chief state lawyer explained that ‘backlog’ only applies to courts and bodies mandated to hear and resolve cases.
“To be clear, pending cases handled by the OSG are not and should be considered as ‘backlog.’ The OSG is not a court of law, which is mandated to resolve cases. The number of pending cases that the OSG currently handles cannot, in any way, translate to ‘backlog.’ As they should have known, the OSG is the principal law office of the Government, its agencies, and instrumentalities. Its main function is to render legal services, which includes representing its client-agencies before courts and quasi-judicial bodies. The OSG does not ‘resolve’ cases,” Calida said.
Calida also debunked Robredo’s claim that his office helped in preparing the sedition charges against her over the alleged plot to oust Duterte as a ploy to deflect looming defeat of Bongbong Marcos’ electoral protest.
“Her allegations are totally outrageous… The Solicitor General is not lawyering for the Marcoses. He is simply performing his duty as the legal defender of the Republic of the Philippines and tribune of the people. The OSG’s participation in Bikoy’s affidavit is not in any way linked to the Marcoses but the Office is merely rendering its legal services to the PNP-CIDG, as one of its clients,” the Calida pointed out.
Calida said that his actions on the electoral protest against Robredo before the Supreme Court sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal were consistent to his mandate as “tribune of the People.”
“It is incumbent upon the Solicitor General to legally uphold the best interest of the government on the basis of the available facts and evidence, as well as the applicable laws, although it may run counter to a client’s position,” he pointed out.
Calida said Robredo should just answer the charges and let the DOJ and the courts resolve the case.
“Mrs. Robredo, being one of those implicated in the controversy, is expected to be biased and self-serving. Mrs. Robredo may have forgotten that she once urged the government to look into turning Bikoy as its witness after the latter’s arrest. The truthfulness of said affidavit is best threshed out in the preliminary investigation to be conducted by the Department of Justice,” he stressed.