Fire private lawyers, SolGen urges PCGG
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:12:00 12/04/2008
Filed Under: Crime and Law and Justice, Government
MANILA, Philippines—Fire them.
This was the advice given Officer-in-Charge Narciso Nario of the Presidential Commission on Good Government by Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera Commission on Good Government who said private lawyers retained by the government to pursue ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcos family and their cronies have to go for being “inefficient and uncooperative.”
Devanadera said she would no longer deputize “special counsels” to handle ill-gotten wealth cases on behalf of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) after these have been dragging in the courts for decades now.
“There is now a sufficient number of OSG lawyers to actively prosecute ill-gotten wealth cases instituted by the PCGG in the Sandiganbayan,” Devanadera told Nario in a letter dated Nov. 6. “Consequently, this Office is constrained to discontinue issuing deputation for private lawyers previously retained by the PCGG as special counsel.”
In the past, the PCGG had to hire private lawyers since it did not have enough of its own.
Devanadera, however, said the PCGG could still retain certain lawyers as legal consultants or researchers, upon the approval of her office.
“Subject to existing laws and regulations, the PCGG may opt to retain those engaged as legal consultants and/or researchers provided, however, that the contracts for those reported to have been inefficient, uncooperative and remiss in seeking the approval of, or at least consulting with lawyers of this Office before submitting pleadings or taking official actions before courts, should no longer be hired,” she told Nario.
She also told Nario to instruct the PCGG legal department to turn over voluminous records and documentary evidence of its numerous pending cases to the OSG. Dona Z. Pazzibugan
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