PCGG abolished in 2 years

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) believes it needs only about two years to wind up its affairs and pave the way for the abolition of the agency.

PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista wrote President Aquino, saying the PCGG is now putting the finishing touches to a proposed law that will call for the abolition of the commission in two years’ time.

Before the abolition, Bautista said the PCGG would have turned over all pending litigation against the Marcos heirs and their cronies to the Department of Justice, and their confiscated and forfeited ill-gotten assets to the Department of Finance.

“The transfers and ‘winding down’ efforts shall be completed and satisfactorily accomplished within a period of two years upon the approval of the said legislative measure,” Bautista said in his letter to the President dated Dec. 8.

“The investigation and prosecution of cases presently being handled by and for the commission shall be transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ),” Bautista said.

Bautista added a special unit in the DOJ would take charge of overseeing and coordinating the efforts relating to the transition process.

“The sequestered and/or surrendered properties and assets that are presently under the commission’s care shall be transferred to the Department of Finance’s Privatization Management Office for the latter’s disposition,” Bautista said.

The necessity and usefulness of the PCGG have been frequently called to question, and calls for its abolition reached their peak during the alleged anomalies and irregularities committed during the tenure of former chairman Camilo Sabio.

Bautista, acknowledging the calls for the PCGG’s abolition, said he saw the need to wind up the commission’s affairs.

“The call for good governance remains relevant, even as the PCGG’s existence is constantly being called to question,” Bautista said.

“And for good reason: what was once dreamed up to be an expression of the Filipino people’s generosity of spirit has been laid to waste by years of mismanagement and, most unfortunately, corruption,” he said.

The PCGG was created in February 1986 by the late former President Corazon Aquino to go after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies.

It was her first executive order and installed former senator Jovito Salonga as the commission’s first chairman.

In a report last year, the PCGG said former Marcos assets worth some P21 billion were slated to be privatized by 2013.

These include part of the jewelry collection of former first lady Imelda Marcos, the television station IBC Channel 13, and the P13-billion “Payanig sa Pasig” property still under litigation.

In late 1991 the Marcos wealth was estimated at $10 billion in several Swiss accounts, but this may well have doubled over time due to accumulated interest.