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Thursday, February 09, 2006
Low pay keeps CH from hiring more lawyers
It’s a city that’s entangled in major legal battles, but the Cebu City Government is restricted from allocating enough money to hire more competent lawyers.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña lamented this even as he praised the City Council for taking an interest in cases where the City is a party.
“We cannot hire high-quality lawyers who usually get paid a lot of money,” he said.
Osmeña cited that the City’s opponents in its legal wars, including PLDT, Smart, Globe and IPI, can spend as much as P2 million on lawyers.
“We’re not allowed to spend more than P20,000 a month for a lawyer. So what kind of lawyer can we get to match the kind of legal defense that they can put up?” Osmeña said in a news conference.
The council yesterday afternoon approved Councilor Hilario Davide III’s move to ask the City Attorney’s Office to submit a list of the City’s pending cases.
Monitor
“I’m happy that they saw to it that there is such a list and they will monitor it so we don’t wake up one morning to find a case unanswered and then we end up in default,” he said.
Davide, a lawyer, thinks it best for the legislative department to know of the cases.
As elected representatives, Davide said councilors have “the duty and obligation” to protect the interest of the City.
“This is the kind of intervention that I’d like the council to do when we give them executive powers to actually see what’s happening, especially as the mayor is not a lawyer,” said the mayor.
Status
As it is, the legal office is not updating the mayor regularly on the status of the cases.
Osmeña takes the council’s move as their attempt to be helpful. He does not see a need for the council to read pleadings before these are filed in court, but Osmeña will allow it, admitting that the City’s legal department is weak.
“City Hall lawyers cannot be experts in every case. But I’m not saying they are incompetent,” said Osmeña.
Moreover, the City allows its lawyers to engage in private practice.
“It’s a management decision on my part, because the alternative is that they will leave and go to private practice. So who do I get, a fresh graduate? Like I said, it’s a management issue, not a legal issue. There has to be a balance.” (GAC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 9, 2006 issue)
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