Only Cabinet officials are required by law to divest their shares in family-owned businesses, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, yesterday said as he dismissed any assertions that Solicitor General Jose Calida has committed any violation in the law with the deals of his family-owned firm with the government.

His family-owned security agency Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. (VISAI), cornered government contracts reported to be worth P261 million for the past two years.

“My understanding ko sa constitutional requirement, if you join in the Cabinet, you are required to divest. But he is not in the cabinet. He is under DOJ (Department of Justice). A Cabinet member in his governmental line is Justice Secretary (Menardo) Guevarra, not him,” Pimentel said.

“He is not a Cabinet member. A Cabinet member is the department secretary. A secretary must divest. The reason why you incorporate is because you want this entity to have a personality separate from you and the investors. It’s a separate personality,” he added.

But opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros claimed otherwise, saying that Calida is liable for graft, hits President Duterte for continuously defending the solicitor general.

Pimentel pointed out that under the law, a government employee is not barred from engaging in a business.

The senator also dismissed the issue on Calida supposedly peddling influence to advance his business interests.

“Give me the acts. But if that is all when a company where he has shares of stocks, has won a security contract in the government, which is not his agency or under his agency, what’s the issue?” Pimentel asked.

The matter of firing Calida is a decision that rests only on President Duterte, being the appointing authority.

It’s a different case if Calida’s office, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), gave the security contract to his company, to an attached agency.

“If influence is exertedd. And then yu have a contract in an agency under you, the presumption is you exerted influence because it’s under you,” Pimentel said.

A resolution has been filed by the members of the Senate minority bloc to investigate the issue concerning Calida and Pimentel would not say if it will be a futile exercise given what he had pointed out.

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday scoffed at President Duterte for coming to Solicitor General Jose Calida’s aid by rejecting calls for him to sack the government’s chief attorney.

Calida claimed that he had already resigned from being the chairman and president of VISAI and that it is his wife Milagros who replaced him and children who are appointed vice president, corporate secretary and treasurer who are running the company.

Clearly, the senator said, Calida can be held liable for possible violation to the code of ethical conduct of government officials and graft.