THE Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has defended its officials' receipt of alleged "excess" allowances from the government.
A Commission on Audit (COA) report on Thursday disclosed that Solicitor General Jose Calida received a total of P1.123 million in excess allowance while his predecessor Florin Hilbay received P4.6 million in 2016.
In a statement, OSG spokesperson Erik Dy said the issue of Solicitor General's "excess" allowances is nothing new.
"The issue of allowances between the OSG and COA is nothing new. Even previous Solicitors General have been subject of these audit findings," Dy said.
Dy explained that under the OSG charter, lawyers are authorized to receive allowances and honoraria for legal services rendered to client agencies.
"This is due to the government's intention to attract the best and the brightest lawyers to work and build a career at the OSG," Dy added.
The spokesperson said the OSG stands to its position that a COA administrative circular cannot abrogate the OSG Charter.
Former Solgen Hilbay in a statement also said the allowances of all OSG lawyers have been guided by Republic Act 9417 or the OSG Law.
"It's an old, recurring issue between OSG and COA. Allowances of all lawyers of OSG, past and present, are allowed by a very specific provision of law, Section 8 of RA 9417 (OSG law). Obviously, the COA doesn't have the authority to countermand an act of Congress," Hilbay said.
In its report, the COA recommended that the top government lawyers refund the excess allowances they have received from the government and deposit it to the OSG's trust fund.
As a result, COA issued a notice of disallowance, a move countered by the office of the government defenders.
COA said the excess amount being received by the lawyers are "illegal" under COA circular, which states that extra pay to government officials must not exceed 50 percent of their annual salary.
A Solicitor General receives P702,516 from the government annually.
Aside from Hilbay and Calida, COA also disclosed in its report excess allowances of 15 more government lawyers. (SunStar Philippines)