COA report: Calida received ‘excess allowances’ worth P7.46-M in 2017

A Commission on Audit (COA) report flagged the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), after it was revealed that its top officials received allowances totaling P10.7 million in 2017, well above the prescribed amount.

“The honoraria/ allowances paid to some OSG officials for legal services and advices rendered to client agencies had exceeded the fifty percent of the annual basic salary by P10,774,283.92,” said the COA report released on Thursday.

On its website, COA also provided other documents showing that out of the total excess allowances in 2017, P7.46 million went to Solicitor General Jose Calida.

Calida, who has an annual salary of P1.82 million, can only receive allowances up to P913,950. He received a total of P8.37 million in 2017.

The audit report also mentioned that OSG lawyers, with the exception of Calida, did not follow the OSG Office Order No. D-188 which requires them to report to the Financial Management Services (FMS).

As a result, COA said these allowances were not taxed properly.

“The said honoraria/allowances directly received from client agencies were not faithfully adhered to; thus, the benefits received were not properly monitored for taxation purposes,” COA said.

COA recommended that OSG refund the excess amount and deposit it to the OSG’s trust fund.

It also said future allowances should not be more than 50 percent of an official’s annual salary.

OSG has not released a statement answering the COA report as of this time. Inquirer.net tried to get OSG and Solicitor General Jose Calida’s side but received no response.

This issue comes after people from different sectors called for the resignation of Calida, after a complaint against him for graft, malversation, and misconduct was filed before the Ombudsman.

The graft case stems from an alleged conflict of interest, as Calida’s security agency bagged contracts with government agencies even if he was appointed as the solicitor general.

Calida reasoned in a recent television interview that the law allows public officials to either divest their shares or resign from the corporate position—which he claims he did before assuming office. /vvp

READ: SolGen says his ‘conflict of interest’ issue is different from Teo’s case