Robredo earlier called Calida out for meddling in the complaint lodged by Peter Joemel Advincula alias Bikoy against her and several opposition figures, instead of addressing the pending cases before the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 29) — The camps of Vice President Leni Robredo and Solicitor General Jose Calida traded barbs over cases filed against critics of the Duterte administration and the supposed case backlogs of the top government lawyer’s office.
“Ang dami ngang paliwanag kung bakit kabahagi. Pero hindi naipapaliwanag bakit ito iyong inaatupag na napakaraming kaso na. Ang inaatupag, kasinungalingan; ang star witness, sinungaling na tao. Pero iyong pinapaniwalaan nila, ang dami-daming kaso sa opisina nila, hindi inaasikaso,” Robredo said on Sunday during her weekly radio show.
[Translation: They have so many reasons why the Office of the Solicitor General is part of the complaint. They are focusing on their lies, including their star witness, who is also a liar. They choose to believe that witness. They have so many backlogs that they are not working on.]
Robredo’s strongly-worded criticism comes amid reports that the OSG was involved in drafting Advincula’s affidavit. Advincula, the man who claimed to be the hooded figure in the viral “Ang Totoong Narcolist” series, is a respondent and witness in the sedition complaint filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) against Robredo and other prominent opposition figures.
The Commission on Audit reported that OSG failed to resolve over 1 million cases in 2018.
But in a statement Monday, the OSG denied the case pileup, saying that media reports and Robredo are “ill-advised and are bereft of knowledge of the functions and internal workings” of their office.
“To be clear, pending cases handled by the OSG are not and should not be considered as “backlog”. The OSG is not a court of law which is mandated to resolve cases. The number of pending cases that the OSG currently handles cannot, in any way, translate to “backlog”,” the statement read.
The OSG added Robredo was “outrageous” for claiming Bikoy was a liar and said the Vice President was being “biased and self-serving.” Bikoy’s credibility has been questioned by senators.
Robredo also said Sunday Calida is ruining the name of his office by lawyering for the Marcos family, citing his involvement in the vice presidential electoral protest involving her former rival, ex-Senator Bongbong Marcos. He previously filed a manifestation backing the 50% ballot shading threshold that favors Marcos.
“Marami diyan na mahuhusay, professional talagang mga abogado na talagang nandiyan para manilbihan sa bayan. Parang sinisira lang ito ni… ni SolGen Calida. Backlog, napakalaki, ang inaasikaso pa iyong pag-aabogado sa mga Marcos,” she said.
[Translation: There are many professional lawyers in OSG. But it seems like Calida is ruining the office’s name. There are so many backlogs, yet he is focusing on counseling the Marcoses.]
Calida’s office also denied this, saying he is simply “performing his duty.”
“The OSG’s participation in Bikoy’s affidavit is not in any way linked to the Marcoses but the Office is merely rendering its legal services to the PNP-CIDG, as one of its clients,” the statement added.
The Vice President’s spokesperson Atty. Barry Gutierrez slammed the OSG for the statement.
“Whether you call it a “backlog” or not, the point remains: you have a lot of other work to do, so why are you meddling in a DOJ investigation that is so clearly out of your mandate?” Gutierrez said in a statement Monday.
Gutierrez also called out the government top lawyer for refusing to refer to Robredo as Vice President in his statement.
Aside from Robredo, mong those facing the sedition complaint include opposition senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros, former senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Bam Aquino, and some church officials —for their alleged involvement in the viral series that alleges the Duterte family and their allies are involved in the illegal drug trade. They are also accused of cyber libel, libel, harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice.
