Senators seek probe into Calida security firm's contracts with gov't

MANILA - Minority senators on Wednesday filed a resolution urging the Senate to investigate Solicitor General Jose Calida over the government contracts bagged by his family's security firm.

Senate Resolution 760 urged the Senate Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization Committee, headed by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, to look into government contracts awarded to the Calida-owned Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. (VISAI).

• Calida security firm won multimillion-peso gov't contracts: documents

Senate’s minority bloc files Resolution 760 urging the committee on civil service & govt reorganization chaired by Sen @TrillanesSonny to investigate SolGen Jose Calida @ABSCBNNews @ANCALERTS pic.twitter.com/oe9OseHLlU

— sherrie ann torres (@sherieanntorres) May 30, 2018

The resolution said Calida still owns 60 percent of VISAI's shares as of September 29, 2016 "or after two months after he assumed office."

The resolution also said that "from August 2016 to January 2018, VISAI won 14 government contracts, two of which were with the Department of Justice and amounted to P12.4 million and the nine of which were won after he assumed the position of Solicitor General."

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday said his department will now look into its contracts with VISAI, despite his earlier statement that the deals complied with procurement laws and guidelines.

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The Office of the Solicitor General over the weekend said Calida has resigned as chairman and president of VISAI on May 30, 2016 before he assumed office, and maintained that he has "no conflict of interest." --With a report from Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News

• ‘No conflict of interest’ in government deal with Calida security firm: OSG