MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vetoed a bill seeking to give the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) more powers, Malacañang said on Saturday.

Marcos vetoed Senate Bill 2490/House Bill 9088 – titled an Act Strengthening the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) by Rationalizing and Further Professionalizing Its Organization, Upgrading Positions and Appropriating Funds Therefor – “due to excessive remuneration to be given the OGCC lawyers,” among others, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles said in a statement.

“I find many of its provisions overbearing, specifically the excessive grant of [remuneration], incentives, benefits and allowances and honoraria that violates the principles of equity and standardization,” Marcos said in his veto message.

The OGCC, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, is the “principal and statutory law office of government-owned and controlled corporations.”

The proposal hikes the salary grade of the Government Corporate Counsel from 30 to 31, “effectively on the same level as that of the Secretary of Justice,” the President said.

“[That] would distort the supervisor-subordinate relationship between the said individuals,” he said.

The bill seeks to allow OGCC officials to increase the number of personnel from the team as follows:

• govt corporate attorney IV: from 10 to 14
• govt corporate attorney III: from 14 to 19
• govt corporate attorney II: from 17 to 20
• govt corporate attorney I: from 4 to 10

The bill also gives OGCC personnel additional benefits such as accident insurance, registration fee reimbursements, and scholarships, among others.

Half of the amount needed to fund the additional benefits would be sourced from the OGCC’s revenues and earnings, the bill proposed.

Marcos noted that the proposed grant of attorney’s fees and special assessments “is not similarly given to other lawyers” of other executive agencies.

The President also said the creation of a trust fund for the OGCC “is against the principle of government’s one-fund policy.”

“Having examined the Bill in its entirety and considering the strong opposition of the Cabinet economic managers due to the inequity in compensation and substantial fiscal risks it may bring to the country, I am not persuaded,” Marcos said.

“In view of these considerations, I am constrained to veto the above-mentioned enrolled bill.”

The bill will be brought back to Congress. Lawmakers can override the President’s veto if each chamber can muster at least two-thirds of the vote to pass the proposal into law.