Ex-human rights chair wants new SolGen after dismissal of another Marcos case

MANILA – The Philippines needs to have another Solicitor General after state lawyers lost another forfeiture case against the Marcos family, former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales said Tuesday.

The Sandiganbayan earlier dismissed a P267-million forfeiture case against the Marcoses, citing defective pieces of evidence such as the presentation of photocopies instead of original documents.

Prior to the ruling, the House approved a bill abolishing the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), and replacing it with a group under the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

Though the bill has yet to be signed into law, prosecutors who handled the P267-million case said they have been consulting the OSG for their course of action, Rosales said.

“Sabi ng [prosecutors], ‘We haven’t seen the verdict yet but we think we will file for a motion for reconsideration and we will ask advice from the SolGen,'” she said.

“When you have an OSG that kisses the floor where Marcos used to walk, mahirap naman ‘yun. How can you get equality there? How can you get fairness?” she said, referring to Jose Calida.

Calida was part of an alliance that supported defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr in 2016.

The Solicitor General earlier slammed opposition figures who alleged that he had a hand in the Marcos family’s recent court victories.

“[Their] statements demean and belittle the work the OSG and its lawyers have been doing for decades to recover ill-gotten wealth,” he said in a statement.