OSG: No 'fantastic allowances' from BI

This is in response to the March 31, 2011 article of former Senator Ernesto M. Maceda which stated that, among others, “officials and employees of the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General are receiving fantastic allowances charged to the Trust Fund coming from airline companies. Former OIC Ronald Ledesma issued an Office Order detailing Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) last March 9, before Gen. David assumed his office for purposes of giving him an allowance.”

For the record, Solicitor General Jose Anselmo I. Cadiz is not a recipient nor has he received a single centavo from the “fantastic allowances” mentioned in said article.

It must be noted that Section 8 of R.A. No. 9417 provides that “the legal staff of the Office of the Solicitor General are allowed to receive honoraria and allowances from client departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government.”In fact, the grant of such allowances and honoraria to OSG lawyers has also been upheld in previous DOJ, COA, and DBM rulings. The Solicitor General and the members of the OSG-BI task force are, by law, accorded this privilege.

But again, it must be stressed that since his appointment to public office on August 2010, Solicitor General Cadiz, has not received nor does he expect to receive a single centavo as allowance from the BI. Finally, Solicitor General Cadiz has written Secretary Leila De Lima that he not be given any allowance from the BI if such is forthcoming.

It is our hope that this will clarify any misimpression against the integrity of the Office of the Solicitor General. Thank you.