Blood pressure downs Yorac

Presidential Commission on Good Government chairman Haydee Yorac was rushed to hospital yesterday due to high blood pressure after she presented her report on the PCGG’s update on the government’s pursuit of ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) chairman Teresita Deles, who was one of those present during the incident, said Yorac was suddenly unable to rise from her seat after presenting the report to President Arroyo.

"She attended the meeting on crutches. The only people who noticed her crutches were the other Cabinet members in attendance seated beside her. She was already finished with her portion when we realized she could not stand from her seat. My undersecretary brought her to the hospital. I was informed later that it was not a heart attack, which means it is controllable," Deles said.

The ambulance that brought Yorac to the undisclosed hospital arrived at Malacañang at around 1:45 p.m.

Yorac, in her report to the President, said the PCGG and NAPC can immediately make available some P25 billion worth of real estate, part of Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth.

The list of Marcos’ ill-gotten properties was submitted to the Asset Privatization Trust during the NAPC’s monthly en banc meeting.

"These are actual existing properties ready to be converted into cash for the support of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)," Yorac said.

She said that the current depressed price of real estate in the market could hamper the government’s efforts to realize the amount of money they expect to get from the sale of the properties.

"I am confident that we will get the money because the evidence is overwhelming," Yorac said.

She added that this was part of the PCGG’s commitment to hasten the process of compelling litigation over substantial amounts.

On the other hand, Yorac said that the Supreme Court may issue a judgment on the coconut levy cases now pending before the Sandiganbayan before the year ends. The coconut levy fund is estimated at P130 billion.

"To abbreviate the proceedings, we have filed a motion for the summary judgment instead of going through full litigation," Yorac said.

She noted that the PCGG has a lot of evidence against those opposing them in the coco levy cases, enough to secure a favorable judgment.

Yorac also informed the President that the decision for summary judgment in at least one case will come out either this month or early February.

"In addition, the case involving the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company’s holding company has reached the Supreme Court. We estimate this to be valued at about P5 billion. The amount will also be allocated to CARP," Yorac said.

She urged the Department of Agrarian Reform to help the PCGG request the Supreme Court to immediately deliberate on the PLDT case.

Yorac said the PCGG asked for two years to finish the presentation of the government’s evidence.

"But we assure you that we will ask the courts to go quickly on all of these cases," she said.

On Dec. 14, 2001, the Supreme Court declared as public the P130 billion coco levy fund, resolving a 15-year legal battle over its ownership.

The Supreme Court then gave the Sandiganbayan six months – up to June 2002 – to resolve the pending coco levy cases. This deadline was extended to December last year upon the request of the anti-graft court.

The Supreme Court ruled that the PCGG-sequestered shares at the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) were "indisputably acquired with coco levy funds, which are public in character."

The coco levy fund was forcibly collected from small coconut farmers in the form of taxes from 1973 to 1982. This levy, now known as the Coconut Industry Investment Fund, has ballooned to P130 billion from P9 billion when it was last collected.

The fund was used by the Marcos family and their cronies to acquire or create companies including UCPB, Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc., Cocofed Marketing Corp., Cocofed Life Insurance Corp., and United Coconut Oil Mills Inc.