Slamming Robredo, OSG denies having a million pending cases

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Monday, contrary to claims made by Vice President Leni Robredo and an online news site, denied having over a million cases that were not being attended to while Solicitor General Jose Calida was busy meddling in cases against administration critics. 

In a statement, the OSG explained that what news site Rappler and Robredo called its "backlog" of over a million cases were pending cases in court and quasi-judicial bodies, and not "cases that have not been acted upon by the OSG."

"Hence, the term 'backlog' is a mischaracterization of the actual status of the cases," the OSG claimed.

Stressing that they did not "resolve" cases, the OSG said its main function was to render legal services to client government agencies.

"Rappler.com and Mrs. Robredo are ill-advised and are bereft of knowledge and of the functions and internal workings of the OSG," the office argued further.

Rappler reported last week that the OSG received 1.3 million cases in 2017 and had a balance of nearly 1.07 million by the end of 2018. Meanwhile, Calida was preoccupied using the office to run after Duterte administration critics.

On Sunday, Robredo mentioned the supposed backlog in her radio program, saying Calida had prioritized "lies," such as the sedition complaint against her and other opposition figures, and on "lawyering" for the Marcoses.

"Ang dami ngang paliwanag kung bakit kabahagi. Pero hindi naipapaliwanag bakit ito iyong inaatupag na napakaraming kaso na. Ang inaatupag, kasinungalingan; ang star witness, sinungaling na tao. Pero iyong pinapaniwalaan nila, ang dami-daming kaso sa opisina nila, hindi inaasikaso," the vice president said.

Star witness Peter Joemel Advincula, the estafa convict who had tagged opposition figures in an alleged plot to discredit President Rodrigo Duterte, had received assistance from the OSG in drafting his affidavit.

The OSG insisted that this assistance was within their legal mandate.

The office grumbled further that Robredo's statements were "biased and self-serving" while her allegations were "outrageous," adding that the truthfulness of Advincula's affidavit was best sorted out during the Department of Justice's preliminary investigation.

Performing his duty

The office also denied that Calida was lawyering for the Marcoses, claiming that he was "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, one of its clients," the OSG argued.

In response, Robredo's spokesman, Barry Gutierrez, said that despite the terminology, it remained clear that the OSG had "a lot of other work to do."

"So why are you meddling in a DOJ investigation that is so clearly out of your mandate?" Gutierrez asked in a tweet.

The Vice-President's spokesperson also chided the the OSG for referring to Robredo simply as "Mrs. Robredo." 

"[W]hile we all know you do not like her, it is still Vice President Robredo".

Whether you call it a “backlog” or not, the point remains: you have a lot of other work to do, so why are you meddling in a DOJ investigation that is so clearly out of your mandate? Oh, and while we all know you do not like her, it is still VICE PRESIDENT Robredo. https://t.co/I5QVyu0UeD

— Barry Gutierrez (@barrygutierrez3) July 29, 2019

— DVM, GMA News