The excess allowance of OSG officers reached P8,555,767.80.
OSG – The Commission on Audit (COA) calls on the Office of the Solicitor-General to pay back the excess allowances.
Based on a recent news report in Inquirer, the COA stood firm on the stand that receipts of the OSG officers must be limited to the 50-percent cap.
However, the government’s primary law company asserted that the COA Circular No. 85-25-E are not applicable to their lawyers. Furthermore, the OSG also pushed that they are abiding by the law.
Based on the news report, the excess allowances reached millions of money – a total of P8,555,767.80. The excess allowance of Jose Calida, the incumbent Solicitor-General is P1,123,742.
Included in the P8.5 million is the excess allowance of Florin Hilbay, the predecessor of Calida. His excess allowance is P4,662,144.41.
According to the news report, there were 15 other OSG officers whose allowances went above the 50-percent limit. They are the following:
1. Ma. Hazel Acantilado
2. Melbourn Ziro Pana
3. John Dale Ballinan
4. Lilian Abenojar
5. Sonny Von Ruaya
6. Liway Czarina Ruizo
7. Raymund Rigodon
8. Danilo Leyva
9. Ma. Antonia Edita Dizon
10. Eric Remegio Panga
11. Bernard Hernandez
12. Renan Ramos
13. James Cundangan
14. Herman Cimafranca
15. Myrna Agno Canuto
According to the news report, the incumbent Solicitor-General worked under the presidential term of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte while his predecessor served under former Pres. Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III’s term.
Reportedly, the COA asserts that Calida and Hilbay’s allowances should not go above half of their salaries in 2016. The maximum that they could have received was P351,258.
The COA pushes that there is a limitation with regards to the honoraria and the allowances to be received by the OSG attorneys as stated in Section 7 of Republic Act No. 9417.
