OGCC condemns House bill transferring its functions under SolGen

The Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) on Wednesday condemned the approval of the House of Representatives of a bill that seeks to transfer the functions of the office to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), saying that it is "highly anomalous and scandalous."

In a statement emailed to GMA News Online, Government Corporate Counsel Rudolf Philip Jurado pointed out that that the OGCC and OSG were once merged, under Executive Order No. 400 issued in 1951.

However, in 1959, RA 2327 was enacted which seeks to separate the position of the Government Corporate Counsel from the Solicitor General because of "conflict of interest" between them.

Jurado said there are currently about 400 active court cases and arbitration cases that the OGCC and the OSG are at opposing ends.

"If this [bill] becomes a law, who will now represent the GOCC (government-owned and -controlled corportations), including water districts? The OSG?" he said.

"This is a clear case of conflict of interest -- highly anomalous and scandalous. With the OGCC gone, GOCCs will be haplessly at the mercy of a lawyer who can abandon their interest anytime."

Voting 162-10, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on third and final reading House Bill 7376 seeking to strengthen the functions of OSG, eliminate the overlapping of functions and consolidate the legal services in the government into one.

This also effectively abolishes the Presidential Commission on Good Government and the OGCC.

Despite this development, Jurado is optimistic that the senators will make the right decision when the measure is transmitted to them.

"The Government Corporate Counsel does not lose hope that the Senate will look closely into the issue of conflict of interest, as well as the valuable support, assistance and representation being rendered by the OGCC, and preserve the institutional arrangement by maintaining the OGCC independent from the OSG," he said. —JST, GMA News