Calida denies hand in Marcos ruling

MANILA, Philippines — Solicitor General Jose Calida has denied allegations that he had a hand in the decision of the Sandiganbayan that set aside a case involving the alleged P1.052-billion ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies. 

Calida said it was impossible for him to intervene in the decision as the litigation started in 1987 and ended in 2010, which is long before his appointment as solicitor general in 2016.  

“I have never personally appeared as solicitor general in any case before the Sandiganbayan,” Calida said.  

He issued the statement after former Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) commissioner Ruben Carranza said there was something “fundamentally wrong” with Calida’s alleged involvement in the decision. 

Carranza said Calida should be excluded by the PCGG for being a Marcos loyalist, which constitutes a conflict of interest.  

Calida dared Carranza to a “legal combat” to determine who between them is the better litigator.

He said Carranza seemed to have “neither studied the record of the case nor read the court decision.”  

Calida denied he is a Marcos loyalist, saying voting for Bongbong Marcos in the last elections did not make him a “Marcos loyalist.”

He said his loyalty belongs only to the Constitution and to the rule of law.