SOLICITOR General Jose Calida has been under fire following his successful bid to unseat Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno through a quo warranto petition. First, critics discovered that he had yet to divest himself of a substantial ownership in a firm that supplies security services to various government agencies. Calida, however, could find it difficult to extricate himself from the second controversy, which involves millions in excess allowances. Fourteen other OSG officials got allowances in excess of 50 percent of their basic salary: Henry Angeles (P697,039.15), Herman Cimafranca (P62,454), James Cundangan (P448,707.83), Renan Ramos (P837,252), Rex Bernardo Pascual (P9,394), Bernard Hernandez (P136,814.72), Ma. While these officials were flagged along with Calida for getting excess pay in 2017, the yawning gulf between the solicitor general’s extra allowances and those of his subordinates raises even more questions.

Source: Manila Times June 02, 2018 16:41 UTC