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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider PAO: Lawmakers should be held liable for violating Ombudsman law in an attempt to block salaries of forensic staff

PAO: Lawmakers should be held liable for violating Ombudsman law in an attempt to block salaries of forensic staff

Published Dec 15, 2020 03:47 pm

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) believes that Senators Franklin Drilon and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara should be punished by the Ombudsman for inserting a rider in the 2021 that prevents its forensic laboratory staff from receiving salaries and benefits.

Senators Franklin Drilon and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara
(MANILA BULLETIN)

In a letter addressed to President Duterte dated Dec. 14, PAO called the rider “an act so reprehensible of a public official that it is punishable even under the Ombudsman Act.”

With this, PAO prodded the President for the “veto of the aforementioned surreptitiously inserted provision in the General Appropriations Bill for 2021.”

“Our persistence on the matter is brought about by no other interest than our undying love for our clients and the nation, and our fervent desire for the rule of law and supremacy of our Constitution,” it stated.

The PAO noted that the rider inserted by Drilon and allowed by Angara states: “Nothing in the appropriation provided in this act shall be used for the salaries or compensation of personnel, travel allowance, meetings and maintenance and other operating expenses of the PAO Forensic Laboratory Division."

“All told, the surreptitiously inserted provision constitutes oppression and an illegal and unconstitutional act,” the PAO said.

The PAO added that it is “unreasonable, unfair, and discriminatory because it defunds the PAO Forensic Laboratory—a highly performing organizational unit.”

“Worse, it is motivated by bad faith and ill motive—as a defense strategy in Dengvaxia cases,” it pointed out.

PAO has been following the 2017 order of then Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II to “extend free legal assistance in civil, criminal and administrative cases to all possible victims of Dengvaxia related injuries, illnesses and deaths.”

It has earlier cited that Drilon remains to be an associate counsel of the Angara Abella Concepcion Regalla and Cruz Law Offices (ACCRA), the law firm representing Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur in the cases involving the anti-dengue vaccine.

Angara’s father, late former Sen. Edgardo Angara, was the founding partner of ACCRA.

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