Calida says no need to divest shares in security firm

Solicitor General Jose Calida's camp said divesting his shares in the family's security agency was "of no moment" even with his influential post and the firm getting multi-million-peso government contracts.

Hours after Calida dodged the media's questions about the Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency, Inc.'s (VISAI) multi-million peso deals with state offices, a statement from his office said that he followed the law by stepping down as the company's chairman and president before he assumed the solicitor general post.

"That he has not yet divested his interest in said enterprise is of no moment since the requirement of the law is either to resign from the management of the enterprise and/or divest himself of his interest in it," the statement said.

Citing jurisprudence in Rabe v. Flores (1997), the statement said "the allegation that there is conflict of interest is baseless."

According to a general information sheet on VISAI as of September 2016, Calida owned 60 percent of the firm, while his wife and three children owned 10 percent each.

Calida took his oath as chief of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on June 30, 2016, along with other Cabinet members appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, states in Section 9 that in the event of a conflict of interest, a government official or employee "shall resign from his position in any private business enterprise within thirty (30) days from his assumption of office and/or divest himself of his shareholdings or interest within sixty (60) days from such assumption."

VISAI has bagged contracts worth over P150 million from government agencies including the Department of Justice, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, the National Economic Development Authority, and the National Parks Development Committee between 2015 and 2018, according to GMA News Research.

But the statement from Calida's office said the OSG was "not the approving authority" for the said deals, which it said were won through public bidding and in accordance with law.

Reiterating that there is no conflict of interest in the deals entered into by Calida's firm, the statement from the office of the Solicitor General slammed allegations of conflict of interest as "totally baseless and concocted."

It also said the notion that VISAI earned P150 million from its contracts was "misleading," since the "bulk" of the contract price, it claimed, went to salaries and benefits of guards deployed, mandatory contributions to the Social Security System, PhilHealth, and Pag-ibig, and administration costs.

"Clearly, after all of these are settled, only a small percentage is left as agency fee," the statement said.

"All said, the allegations against SolGen Calida are totally baseless and concocted. As pointed out by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque: 'these attacks are because he won at his quo warranto petition and his enemies are getting back at him.'"

Meanwhile, the statement said that while the OSG is attached to the DOJ for budgetary purposes, it is "independent and autonomous" from the Justice department, with which it has also secured a contract. — BAP/NB, GMA News