Palace: No politics in planned PCGG abolition

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday defended the plan to abolish the government agency tasked to recover the illegally-obtained wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies, saying that there is no politics involved.

Ernesto Abella, President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman, said that the plan to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government is meant to streamline and consolidate its functions together with those of the Office of the Solicitor General and the Department of Justice.

Abella was reacting to the statement of Benjamin Diokno, the Budget secretary, that since the government agency was doing nothing, it would be better to abolish it.

“They don’t do anything. What do they do?” Diokno said as he disclosed plans to scrap PCGG.

The commission has disputed Diokno's assertion, saying it recovered P57.1 billion in 2012, P631 million in 2013, P1.57 billion in 2014, P14.01 billion in 2015 and P481.95 billion in 2016.

“PCGG is surprised at the recent questions regarding its performance, relevance, and efficiency,” the PCGG, which was created in 1986 to run after the ill-gotten wealth of Marcos, his family and cronies, said.

If the plan materializes, it will be the latest development in the political rehabilitation of the family of Ferdinand Marcos, the late Philippine dictator whose rule was marred by human rights violations, rampant corruption and the systematic weakening of democratic institutions.

From the specter of being hastily driven out of the presidential palace and transported to the US in 1986, Marcos family is firmly back in government.

Imelda, the ousted dictator's widow, whose lavishness gave birth to the term "Imeldific", is a member of Congress representing the second district of Ilocos Norte, their home province and bailiwick.

Imee Marcos, the eldest daughter, is the governor of the province, while Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is a former senator.  He is currently pursuing an electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

In late 2016, the senior Marcos' remains were buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, a move that the government said confirmed his status as a former president and soldier but not necessarily his being a hero.

Abella however denied that politics is behind the move.

“I think it’s a question of streamlining. There’s no politics there,” he said.

He said that the proposal came from the OSG, which is tasked with filing cases to recover the billions of ill-gotten wealth amassed during the Marcos years. PCGG handles the administrative function, which according to the OSG, it could already perform, he said.

When asked if the OSG and the DOJ could handle the Marcos cases considering that they are already burdened with a lot of work, Abella said: “Based on the OSG’s position, apparently, they can.”

Abella said that there was already a plan to abolish the PCGG before Duterte won the presidency last year.

From the specter of being hastily driven out of the presidential palace and transported to the US in 1986, the family of Marcos now occupies government positions.

Imelda, his wife whose lavishness has spawned a word to describe it, is a member of Congress representing the second district of Ilocos Norte, their home province and bailiwick.

Imee Marcos, the eldest daughter, is the governor of the province while Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his only son, is a former senator and almost made it to the vice presidency which is just a breath away from Malacañang.

Duterte, who has openly shown and professed his friendship with the Marcoses, allowed last year the clandestine burial of the body of the late dictator in the country’s heroes’ cemetery following the decision of the Supreme Court, ending a years-long effort of the family to have this honor given to its patriarch.