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SC orders Agra to respond to double position suit

By Benjamin B. Pulta

04/22/2010

Embattled acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra has been ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) to answer the petition seeking his removal from his concurrent position as acting Solicitor General (OSG).

Court Administrator and spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the high tribunal gave Agra 10 days to comment on the petition filed by lawyers Dennis Funa and Melanio Elvis Balayan.

Funa is also the petitioner in the suit questioning the legality of the appointment of former Transportation Undersecretary Maria Elena Bautista as concurrent head of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) where the SC declared as unconstitutional.

In their petition, the lawyers argued that Agra’s dual post is in violation of Article 7, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution, which prohibits dual or multiple positions in government.

Agra was appointed as acting Justice secretary on March 1, 2010 in lieu of Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera who resigned her post to seek a congressional position in the first district of Quezon province.

The petitioners stressed that the constitutional provision is clear that members of the Cabinet cannot hold other offices.

Devanadera used to hold the said two, but later gave up her being solicitor general to concentrate with her duties as acting Justice secretary.

The petitioners further claimed that the Administrative Code of 1987 provides that the OSG should be “independent” and “autonomous” from the DoJ.

Agra, however, insisted that constitutional provision which prohibits multiple positions covers only permanent appointments and not those he presently holds in an acting capacity.

“A Solicitor General concurrently designated as a DoJ secretary, but both in an acting or temporary capacity, is not the nefarious situation sought to be prevented by the constitutional prohibition,” Agra explained.

Agra added that unlike in the case of Marina, the OSG is an independent office attached to the DoJ. The OSG’s are not reviewable, he added, are now reviewable by the DoJ or vice-versa.

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