MANILA, Philippines — There was nothing illegal with the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s contract with the security agency owned by the family of Solicitor General Jose Calida, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said yesterday.

After reviewing the contract as he promised during confirmation of his appointment before the Commission on Appointments last month, Guevarra said the contract between DOJ and Vigilant Investigative and Security Agency Inc. was aboveboard and did not violate the law against conflict of interest.

“I examined all the records pertaining to the procurement and all of this were regular on its face,” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

“I talked to the people in charge of procurement, examined the records. This is a public bidding and all we need to comply with are the pertinent regulations under the Government Procurement Reform Act. These were followed – from the start of the bidding up to the end,” he revealed.

The DOJ chief said Vigilant was chosen to provide security guards to the agency because the firm had submitted the lowest and responsive bid.

He said there would only be conflict of interest as far as the DOJ is concerned if the winning bidder has any relation to the head of the agency, to the head of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), to the head of the BAC secretariat, to the agency implementing the procurement within the third degree of affinity or consanguinity.

“But none was found. It is aboveboard,” he said.

“The conflict of interest on the part of the SolGen, that is something he has to deal with separately,” Guevarra suggested.

Calida immediately welcomed the DOJ’s finding.

“I am not surprised with DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra’s conclusion that there is no irregularity and conflict of interest in Vigilant’s contract with DOJ. He found the bidding process and contract to be aboveboard,” he said in a statement.

“This should put to rest the malicious speculations against my wife’s business and my integrity,” Calida stressed.

Calida’s security agency became controversial after it was found that the firm bagged P150 million worth of contracts in at least 10 government agencies.

Apart from DOJ, Calida’s security agency also bagged contracts with the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

A complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman accused Calida of conflict of interest in violation of Republic Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials).