LGUs refrained from hiring private lawyers for cases

The hiring of private lawyers to handle legal cases of towns and cities must be stopped as only their official legal officers should take such cases, the Commission on Audit said recently.

The COA statement came after it found out that three local governments, the towns of Bantayan and Madridejos and the now city of Bogo, spent money to pay private lawyers for their legal needs.

The three have violated COA Circular No. 98-002 and Section 481 of Republic Act 7160, COA declared in its report.

The COA circular provided the guidelines of RA 7160 prohibiting the employment of private lawyers to handle legal cases of local governments.

The circular also states that the provincial legal officer can serve as the municipal legal officer in the absence of such an officer of the town. The exception to this rule is when the city or the town is engaged in a legal suit against the provincial government or another city or town.

When legal services however cannot be avoided or is not justified under extraordinary or exceptional circumstances, the local government may hire a private lawyer but only with the approval of the solicitor general or the government corporate counsel, and the COA.

COA’s report stated that Madridejos records showed payments to Clarus Law Office of between P136,800 and P106,800 for legal services rendered in 2005 and 2006.

Considering that the hiring of the law firm was a violation of law, COA recommended to Madridejos officials the refund of the payments and to stop similar violations in the future.

COA reported also that Bantayan contracted private lawyer Nathaniel Clarus as the town’s legal consultant that could function as municipal legal officer.  The town already paid P128,000 for Clarus’ services from January to September 2006.

COA said the payment for legal services of private lawyer to handle cases is disallowed, as it warned the town to stop hiring legal consultant. It added that the officials who authorized the payment should return the money already paid to Clarus.

When it was still a town, Bogo paid the notary services of lawyer Vicente Rodriguez who was incidentally the vice mayor then.

Rodriguez allegedly notarized various contracts executed by and between the town government and contractors.  One of these was the loan agreement of two private people with the Bogo Municipal Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

Some of the contracts were for lease of market stalls or spaces at the Bogo Central Terminal and other commercial establishments of the town.  COA found out that there were no documents from the solicitor general allowing the payment of P48,800 in legal fees for these contracts.

Rodriguez, in his reply to COA, contended that the circular does not cover notary services because such does not represent the town for legal services in court.

COA countered that notarization is strictly construed as an administrative act, and not a legal practice. It also recommended the local government to refund the paid amount and seek reimbursement from the private parties.  — Garry B. Lao/RAE