Policy, purpose, and required outcomes
- The State declares as policy the protection of the rights and promotion of the welfare of the Filipino worker (Section 1).
- The State mandates expansion and streamlining in the Office of the Solicitor General to ensure efficient and effective performance of legal services of the Government (Section 1).
- The Act requires increasing the legal and administrative staff and upgrading their positions to meet the Republic’s growing need for legal services (Section 1).
- The Act requires promoting litigation and other skills of lawyers, augmenting employees’ benefits, and enhancing employees’ welfare (Section 1).
- The Act directs encouragement of academic growth and honing of legal and communications expertise (Section 1).
Organizational expansion and structure
- The Office of the Solicitor General shall increase its staff and upgrade their positions (Section 2).
- From 15 legal divisions, the Office shall have at least 30 legal divisions (Section 2).
- The increase shall come with a corresponding increase in general and administrative support personnel and provision for ample office space (Section 2).
- Each division shall be permanently headed by an Assistant Solicitor General and shall consist of 10 lawyers plus such other personnel as may be necessary (Section 2).
- The existing administrative structure shall be reorganized into:
- Financial Management Service,
- Docket and Case Management Services, and
- Human Resources Management Service (Section 2).
- Each of these services shall be composed of the necessary divisions and sections (Section 2).
- Incumbent personnel occupying affected positions at the time of approval shall occupy the positions mandated by the Act thereafter, discharge the duties of their new positions, and receive corresponding salary and benefits without necessity of any new appointment (Section 2).
Appointment standards and ranks
- The Solicitor General shall have cabinet rank (Section 3).
- The Solicitor General shall have the same qualifications for appointment, rank, prerogatives, salaries, allowances, benefits, and privileges as the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals (Section 3).
- An Assistant Solicitor General shall have those of an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals (Section 3).
- A Senior State Solicitor shall have qualifications, rank, prerogatives, salaries, and privileges of a Regional Trial Court Judge (Section 3).
- A State Solicitor II shall have qualifications, rank, prerogatives, salaries, and privileges of a Metropolitan Trial Court Judge (Section 3).
- A State Solicitor I shall have qualifications, rank, prerogatives, salaries, and privileges of a Municipal Trial Court in Cities Judge (Section 3).
- The Solicitor General shall determine the qualifications, prerogatives, and responsibilities of the Associate Solicitors (Section 3).
Compensation and personnel upgrade
- The basic monthly compensation of the following officials shall follow the grade ranges below (Section 4):
- Solicitor General: Grade 30 to Grade 31
- Assistant Solicitor General: Grade 29 to Grade 30
- Senior State Solicitor: Grade 28 to Grade 29
- State Solicitor II: Grade 27 to Grade 28
- State Solicitor I: Grade 26 to Grade 27
- Associate Solicitor III: Grade 25 to Grade 26
- Associate Solicitor II: Grade 22 to Grade 25
- Associate Solicitor I: Grade 18 to Grade 24
- Non-legal personnel positions shall be raised to the level of their counterparts in the Court of Appeals (Section 4).
- Subject to availability of funds, salaries and privileges of Office personnel granted under the Act may be increased further to match later increases granted to their counterparts in the Court of Appeals (Section 4).
Employee benefits, fees, and allowances
- Subject to availability of funds, the Office may provide the following benefits (Section 5):
- Health care services through a health maintenance organization (HMO), with expenses for the mandatory annual executive check-up of the Solicitor General, Assistant Solicitors General, and Service Heads for the account of the Office (Section 5[1]).
- Accident insurance policies procured by the Office at its own expense during travels while in the performance of official duties and functions (Section 5[2]).
- Scholarships to deserving employees on official time and at the expense of the Office to enhance academic growth and upgrade knowledge and skills; scholars shall be selected on the basis of competitive examination (Section 5[3]).
- A provident fund consisting of contributions made both by the Office and by its lawyers and employees to a common fund for payment of benefits to such lawyers or employees or their heirs (Section 5[4]).
- Subject to availability of funds, the Office shall bear fees for relevant seminars and professional membership fees for lawyers, plus registration fees and related miscellaneous expenses incurred in completing the mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) course (Section 6).
- Subject to availability of funds, the Office shall also bear professional membership, registration fees (including mandatory continuing professional education (CPE)), and related miscellaneous expenses of other employees holding positions requiring a professional license by the Office (Section 6).
- Subject to availability of funds, employees shall be provided with contracted transportation services until the Office can procure additional motor vehicles for this purpose (Section 7).
- Consistent with Executive Order No. 292 (Revised Administrative Code of 1987), legal staff of the Office may receive honoraria and allowances from client departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government (Section 8).
- The Office has franking privilege: all official mail matters and telegrams addressed for delivery within the Philippines shall be received, transmitted, and delivered free of charge, provided that mail addressed to private persons or non-government offices shall not exceed 120 grams (Section 9).
- The following officials shall be granted special allowances in amounts determined by the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management and the Solicitor General (Section 10):
- Solicitor General
- Assistant Solicitors General
- Senior State Solicitors
- State Solicitors I and II
- Associate Solicitors I to III
- Special allowances shall be implemented uniformly in sums and amounts supported by the funding source in Section 11, and shall not exceed 100% of the basic salary of solicitors provided in Republic Act No. 6758 (Salary Standardization Law) (Section 10).
Funding sources and trust fund management
- Funds required to implement the Act—including health care services, insurance premiums, professional and educational registration fees, contracted transportation benefits, and other benefits—shall be taken from (Section 11):
- 5% of monetary awards given by the Courts to client departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government, including those under court-approved compromise agreements (Section 11[i]);
- 50% of fees collected by the Special Committee on Naturalization (Section 11[ii]); and
- all other income, fees and revenues earned and collected by the Office of the Solicitor General (Section 11[iii]).
- The Office is authorized to charge deputation, certification and other similar fees in the cases it handles (Section 11[iii]).
- Amounts collected under Section 11 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 the Act (Section 11).
Salary increases and special allowance conversion
- When subsequent increases in salary rates under Republic Act No. 6758, as amended, are implemented, all special allowances under Section 10 shall be considered as implementation of those salary increases as may be provided by law (Section 12).
- Special allowances equivalent to the increase in basic salary provided by law shall be converted as part of basic salary (Section 12).
- The amounts converted as basic salary shall be funded from the regular appropriations of the Office of the Solicitor General (Section 12).
- Any excess in allowances granted under the Act that is not converted as basic salary shall continue to be granted as allowances and shall continue to be funded under Section 11 (Section 12).
Implementation rules and appropriations
- The Solicitor General, in coordination with the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, shall promulgate implementing rules and regulations within 60 days from approval of the Act (Section 13).
- The amount needed for office streamlining and physical expansion shall be taken from the Office’s funds and budget under the annual General Appropriations Acts (Section 14).
Repeals, separability, and effectivity
- Provisions of Executive Order No. 292 (Revised Administrative Code of 1987), as amended; Republic Act No. 9139; Executive Order No. 460 (dated December 3, 1997); Executive Order No. 482 (dated May 7, 1998); Administrative Order No. 117 (dated February 17, 1994); and all laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the Act are repealed or amended accordingly (Section 15).
- If any provision is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect (Section 16).
- Effectivity occurs 15 days after publication in two national newspapers of general circulation (Section 17).