OSG: Sometimes, Calida’s security firm lost bidding for gov’t deals

Solicitor General Jose Calida was told by lawyers that there was no need for him to divest his ownership stake in Vigilant Investigative  and Security Agency, Inc. even after President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him to his post in 2016.

Attorney Hector Calilung, the spokesman for the Office of the Solicitor General, added that there were also instances when VISAI lost the contracts for which it was bidding.

“There is no conflict of interest in this case because one, the Office of the Solicitor General is not the approving authority,” Calilung said.

He also stressed the contracts won by Vigilant went through the bidding process.

“They did not always win. The records show that sometimes they lost,” Calilung said.

The OSG reiterated its stand that there was no conflict of interest in Calida’s continued involvement in VISAI and the company having contracts with various government agencies.

Calilung said conflict of interest, according to Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, is present when a government official is occupying a position in an office that regulates, licenses or supervises a private enterprise that the government official is involved in.

He added that before Calida accepted his appointment as Solicitor General, he consulted his lawyers about divesting from Vigilant.

Calida, Calilung said, was advised that he did not need to because he had already resigned from the company’s management.

When asked whether or not Calida should divest now, if only to put issues to rest, Calilung replied, “If it’ll buy him peace, maybe. But this is a personal opinion on my part."

"But the thing here is there is no need. He is not committing any infraction. He is not transgressing any law,” Calilung said. —NB, GMA News