THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 1 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
1 
S E N A T E  
s. 
NO.. 2249 
6 
MAY 23 P3:39 
Introduced by 
Senators Edgardo J. .Anguru; Joker P. Arroyo; Pia.S. Cayetano; 
Miriam Defensor Santiago; Franklin M. Drilon; Juan Ponce Enrile; 
Richard J. Gordon; Alfred0 S. Lim; Francis N. Pangilinan; 
Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.; 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is the law office of the 
Republic of the Philippines. It is the biggest law firm and has the biggest 
case load. It represents the Government - its departments, agencies, 
and instrumentalities, and its officials and agents, who are suing or are 
being sued in their official capacities, before the local court system and 
in international fora. 
It is also the counsel of the People of the 
Philippines before the appellate courts. 
The OSG is an “independent and autonomous office,” headed by 
the Solicitor General “who is the principal law officer and legal defender 
of the government?’ (Sec. 34, Chap. 12, Title III, E.O. 292). As such, the 
Solicitor General is solely responsible for the conduct of government 
litigation and other fields of advocacy. 
The OSG is a veritable training ground for advocates, and future 
judges and justices. As observed by the Supreme Court, “[olne would be 
hard put to name a single legal group or law firm that can match the 
expertise, experience, resources, staff and prestige of the OSG which 
were painstakingly built up for almost a century” (Gonzales vs. Chavez, 
205 SCRA m j .  
The legal staff of the OSG consists of one hundred sixty-six (166) 
lawyers - the Solicitor General included. 
The OSG has fifteen (15) 
divisions with ten (10) lawyers each. An Assistant Solicitor General 
heads every division. Unbelievably, with a total office caseload of around 
two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) cases, each solicitor or associate 
solicitor in the OSG handles an average of more than one thousand 
seven hundred (1,700) cases! Compare this to their counterparts in 
private law firms who handle an average of fifty (50) to a hundred (100) 
cases each. For the year 2005 alone, OSG lawyers filed almost fifteen 
thousand (15,000) briefs, comments, complaints and reports. Theirs is 
an absolutely herculean task, considering that OSG jurisdiction covers 
the whole length and breadth of the Philippines with occasional calls for 
1 


duty abroad. Add to that the numerous appellate court cases they have 
to handle. 
Like all good soldiers in the service of their country, OSG lawyers 
leave the comforts and security of home and family in all kinds of 
weather and conditions, sometimes against formidable odds, to carry out 
their duties and functions on behalf of the Republic. There is a limit to 
human endurance, though. 
Despite the voluminous workload, the physically and mentally 
demanding, time-consuming tasks they must accomplish and the risks 
that confront them, OSG employees receive remuneration which is a 
pittance compared to the earnings of a private law practitioner or some 
lawyers in certain government offices as may be gleaned from the 
Endnotesl. For example, the Chief Public Attorney has a salary grade of 
31 while the Solicitor General’s is only 30. And yet, under the law, the 
Solicitor General’s position has long been equivalent to that of the 
Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals (or an Associate Justice of the 
Supreme Court) which has a salary grade of 31. 
What could be more 
inequitable than a government lawyer rendering legal assistance to 
indigent citizens of the Republic being paid more than the legal 
representative of the sovereign Republic itself? Again, the salary of an 
entry level OSG lawyer approximates the salary of a courier 
or 
messenger in the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). 
If exemplary performance is to be consistently achieved by the 
Republic‘s counsel, then conditions obtaining in the OSG must change. 
The legal staff must be expanded by increasing the existing divisions to 
thirty (30) with a corresponding increase in general and administrative 
support personnel and provision for ample office space.‘ OSG lawyers 
must be accorded the benefits and privileges befitting the dignity and 
stature of legal representatives of the Republic to boost their morale. 
These lawyers must be shielded from the temptations of corruption and 
lackadaisical attitude towards work. Their positions must be upgraded 
and their material and psychological needs addressed to inspire and 
energize them to continue excelling in their work. 
The administrative staff in the Office of the Solicitor General 
undoubtedly share in the burdens and responsibilities of the legal staff; 
consequently, they too must share in the benefits and privileges of the 
latter. 
The OSG has been hampered in its efforts to create a career in 
advocacy essential to maintaining a corps of lawyers focused solely on a 
crusade to serve the very purpose for which it was established. Because 
of its low salary scale, the OSG has a hard time convincing its lawyers to 
continue working for the Government. It would be the height of infamy if 
the Government were to lose some of its cases by default for lack of legal 
representatives to handle them. The OSG has been losing its lawyers to 
private law firms, multinatiohals and big corporations which have 
unlimited resources in hiring the best lawyers. Unless positive measures 
are adopted, the transfer of legal talents will continue without any hope 
of replacement. 
Strengthening the OSG by improving employees’ 
working conditions would stem the exodus of lawyers and continue to 
attract good ones to join its legal staff. 
2 


The Senate and the House of Representatives, both revered clients 
of the OSG, ,can speed up-the wheels of change running towards 
efficiency and excellence in the Government’s legal service by the prompt 
approval of this bill. 
OFFICE 
Senator 
SALARY 
POSITION 
GRADE 
MONTHLY SALARY 
1 Endnotes 
Supreme Court 
, 
1 
COMPENSATION OF SOME HEADS OF OFFICES 
Chief Justice 
32 
P46,200 
Supreme Court 
,Ass. Justice 
31 
P40,425 
Court of Appeals Pres. Justice 
31 
Court of Appeals Ass. Justice 
30 
P40,425 
P28,875 
COMPENSATION OF LAWYERS OF THE 
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL 
31 
3 Public Attorney’s Chief Public 
Office 
ttorney 
P40,425 
SoIicitor General 
30 
P 28,875 
Asst. Sol. General 
29 
P 25,333 
Solicitor I11 
28 
P 24,359 
* Solicitor I1 
I 
.27 
I 
@ 23,422 
I 
Solicitor I 
.26 
P 22,521 
3 
Assoc. Solicitor 111 
25 
P 21,655 
I 
Assoc. Solicitor I1 
22 
It 
P 19,251 
1 
Assoc. Solicitor I 
18 
P 15,841 


:. i.ria: E 
~ 
~ *SF 
~~~~~~~Y 
THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
1 
6 
MAY 23 P3 :_?? 
S E N A T E  
S. No. 2m 
~ ~ C E J V E ~  
BY : +.-- 
Introduced by 
Senators Edgardo J. Anguru; Joker P. Arroyo; Pia S. Cuyetano; 
Miriam Defensor Santiago; Franklin M. Drilon; Juan Ponce Enrile; 
Richard J. Gordon; Alfred0 S. Lim; Francis PI. Pangilinan; 
Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.; 
AN ACT 
TO STRENGTHEN THE OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR 
GENERAL, BY EXPANDING AND STREAMLINING ITS 
BUREAUCRACY, UPGRADING EMPLOYEE SKILLS AND 
AUGMENTING BEBEFITS, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREFORANDFOROTHERPURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of 
the State to protect the rights and promote the welfare of the Filipino 
worker. Pursuant to this policy and to ensure efficient and effective 
performance in the legal service of the Government, an expansion and 
streamlining shall be effected in the Office of the Solicitor General. 
The legal and administrative staff of the Office of the Solicitor 
General shall be increased and their positions upgraded to adequately 
meet the Republic's burgeoning need for legal services. The litigation and 
other skills of lawyers of the Office of the Solicitor General shall be 
promoted, the benefits of employees augmented, and their welfare 
enhanced. Academic growth and the honing of legal and communications 
expertise shall be encouraged. 
SEC. '2. Expansion. - The staff of the Office of the Solicitor 
General shall be increased and their p,ositions upgraded. From fifteen 
4 


(15) legal divisions, there shall be thirty (30) legal divisions in the Office 
of the Solicitor General, with a corresponding increase in the general and 
administrative support personnel and provision for ample office space. 
Each division, permanently headed by an Assistant Solicitor General, 
shall consist of ten (10) lawyers and such other personnel as may be 
necessary for the office to effectively carry out its functions. 
The present administrative structure of the Office of the Solicitor 
General shall be reorganized into the Financial Management Services, 
Docket and Case Management Services and the Human Resource 
Management Services. Each of these shall be composed of the necessary 
divisions and sections. 
The legal and non-legal staff of the Office of the Solicitor General 
occupying the positions affected by the changes.embodied in this Act at 
the time of its approval shall thereafter occupy the upgraded positions 
mandated by this Act, and discharge the duties and functions of their 
new positions and receive the corresponding salary increases, allowances 
and benefits appurtenant thereto, without the necessity of any new 
appointment , 
SEC. 3. 
Standards. - The Solicitor General shall have 
cabinet rank and the same qualifications for appointment, rank, 
prerogatives, salaries, allowances, benefits and privileges as the Presiding 
Justice of the Court of Appeals; an Assistant Solicitor General, those of 
an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals. 
The qualifications for appointment, rank, prerogatives; salaries, 
and privileges of Solicitors shall be the same as 
allowances, benefits 
judges, specified as follows: 
,
.
 
Solicitor 111 - Regional Trial Court Judge 
Solicitor I1 - Metropolitan Trial Court Judge 
Solicitor I - City Trial Court Judge 
The 
Solicitor 
General 
shall 
determine 
the qualifications, 
prerogatives and responsibilities of the Associate Solicitors. 
5 


SEC. 4. 
Compensation. - 
The basic monthly compensation of 
the Solicitor General, Assistant Solicitors General, Solicitors and 
Associate Solicitors shall be as follows: 
The positions, salaries, allowances and benefits 
of non-legal 
personnel in the Office of the Solicitor General shall be raised to the level 
of their counterparts in the Court of Appeals. 
Subject to the availability of funds,' the salaries, allowances, 
benefits and privileges of personnel of the Office of the Solicitor General 
granted under this Act may be ,further increased to match any 
corresponding increase in salaries, allowances, benefits and privileges 
later granted to their respective counterparts in the Court of Appeals. 
SEC. 5. 
Health Care Services. - Subject to the availability 
of funds, the Office of the Solicitor General shall provide its employees 
with health care services through a health maintenance organization 
(HMO). Expenses for the mandatory annual executive check-up of the 
Solicitor General, the Assistant Solicitors General, and Services Heads, 
shall be for the account of the office. 
SEC. 6. 
Insurance Coverage. - All employees shall be 
covered by accident and life insurance policies procured by the office 
during local and foreign travels while in the performance of their official 
duties and functions. 
SEC. 7. Scholarships and Otlier Benefits. - Without prejudice to 
efficiency in the service, deserving employees shall be allowed to avail of 
educational scholarships, grants and other privileges, local and foreign, 
6 


on official time, for their academic growth, to update their knowledge and 
hone their expertise. 
Fees for relevant seminars, as well as professional membership 
fees for lawyers, registration fees, and related miscellaneous expenses 
they incur in completing the mandatory continuing legal education 
(MCLE) course shall be borne by the office. Professional membership, 
registration fees, including those for mandatory continuing professional 
education (CPE), and related miscellaneous expenses of other employees 
holding positions for which a professional license is required by the office 
shail also be borne by the Office of the Solicitor General. 
Subject to the availability of funds, employees shall be provided 
with contracted transportation services until such time that the office 
can procure additional motor vehicles for this purpose. 
Consistent with the provisions of 
Executive Order No. 292, 
otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987, employees of the 
Office of the Solicitor General are allowed to receive honoraria and 
allowances from client departments, agencies and instrumentalities of 
the Government. In addition, the legal staff of the Office of the Solicitor 
General are allowed to charge and receive appearance fees from the said 
bodies. 
. .  
The Solicitor General may, subject to the availability of funds, 
grant employees of the Office of the Solicitor General such other 
perquisites and benefits as the exigencies of the service may require. 
SEC. 8. 
Franking Privilege. - All official mail matters and 
telegrams of the Office of the Solicitor General addressed for delivery 
within the Philippines shall be received, transmitted, and delivered free of 
charge: provided, that such mail matters when addressed to private 
persons or non-government offices shall not exceed one hundred and 
twenty (120) grams. 
SEC. 9. Provident Fund. - The Office of the Solicitor General 
shall establish its own provident fund, which shall consist of 
7 


contributions made both by the Office of the Solicitor General and by its 
lawyers and employees to a common fund for the payment of benefits to 
such lawyers or employees or their heirs. 
\ 
, 
SEC. 10. Retirement Benefits. - When a member of the legal 
staff of the Office of the Solicitor General, who has rendered at least 
twenty (20) years of service in the Government, . the last five (5) years of 
which must have been 
rendered continuously in the Office of the 
Solicitor General, retires for having reached the age of sixty-five (65) 
years, or resigns by reason of incapacity to discharge the duties of his 
office, he shall, during the residue ,of his natural life, in the ganner 
herein provided, receive a retirement pension based on the highest 
monthly salary, plus the highest monthly aggregate of transportation, 
living, and representation allowances which he was receiving at the time 
of his retirement or resignation. 
When a member of the legal staff of the Office of the Solicitor 
General has reached the age of sixty (60) years and has rendered at least 
twenty (20) years of service in the Government, the last five (5) years of 
which must have been 
rendered continuously in the Office of the 
Solicitor General, he shall likewise be entitled to retire and receive 
during the residue of his natural life the same benefits provided in this 
section; Provided, however, That those with less than twenty (20) years of 
service in the Government, the last five years of which must have been 
rendered continuously in the Office of the Solicitor General, shall be 
entitled to a pro-rata monthly pension computed as follows: 
NO. OF YEARS 
IN GOVERNMENT 
BASIC PAY PLUS THE HIGHEST MONTHLY 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  
x AGGREGATE OF TRANSPORTATION, LIVING, 
20 YEARS 
AND REPRESENTATION ALLOWANCES 
SEC. 11. Funding. - The funds required for the implementation 
of this Act, including those for health care services, insurance premiums, 
professional, educational, registration fees, contracted transportation 
services, the other perquisites and benefits above, shall be taken from (i) 
twenty-five percent (25%) of monetary awards' given by the Courts to 
8 


client departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the Government, 
including those under court-approved compromise agreements; (ii) fifty 
percent (50%) of 
fees collected by the Special Committee on 
Naturalization; (iii) existing funds in the name of the Office of the 
Solicitor General; and (iv) all other income, fees and revenues earned 
and collected by the Office of the Solicitor General. For this purpose, the 
Office of the Solicitor General is hereby authorized to charge deputation, 
certification and other similar fees in the cases that it handles. 
The amounts collected pursuant to this section .shall constitute a 
trust fund in the name of the Office of the Solicitor General to be 
managed and used by the Solicitor General to carry out the provisions of 
this Act. 
SEC. 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty 
(60) days from the approval of this Act, the Solicitor General, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Budget and Management, 
shall 
promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 13. Appropriations. - The initial amount needed to 
implement office streamlining and physical expansion shall be taken 
from the. funds and budget of the Office of the Solicitor General. 
Thereafter, such amounts as may be necessary to fully implement this 
Act shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act. 
SEC. 14. Repealing Clause. - Pertinent provisions of Executive 
Order No. 292, otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987, as 
amended, and all laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts 
thereof which are contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this 
Act, are hereby repealed or amended accordingly. 
,, 
SEC. 15. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this .Act is 
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the provisions not affected thereby 
shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
9 


SEC. 16. Effectivity. - 
This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) 
national newspapers of general 
days from its publication in two (2) 
circulation. 
Approved, 
k ! L R d L k L l  
JOKER P. ARROYO 
Senator 
Senator 
PIA S. CAYETANO 
Senator 
Senator 
MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO 
FRANKLIN M. DRILON 
Senator 
RICHARD J. GORDON 
Senator 
Senator 
ALFRED0 S. LIM 
FRANCIS N. PANGILINAN 
Senator 
Senator 
AQUILINO Q. PIMENTEL, JR. 
10