Marcos names ex-CA justice Sadang as new PCGG chief

MANILA, Philippines — A former magistrate of the Court of Appeals (CA) has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG). 

In a Facebook post on Monday, the Presidential Communications Office said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed former CA Associate Justice Melchor Quirino Sadang to the agency tasked to recover the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth.

Sadang, who retired from the CA in 2017, replaces John Agbayani at the PCGG. He is the fifth appointee and the second justice from the appellate court appointed by Marcos in the agency. 

In February 2023, Sadang became part of a five-person panel responsible for reviewing the courtesy resignations of hundreds of police officers in hopes of “cleansing” the ranks of the Philippine National Police.

Meanwhile, PCGG was established shortly after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution removed the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the father of the current president, from the presidency and forced his family into exile in Hawaii.

It is mandated to recover the wealth stolen by the Marcos family and the cronies of Marcos Sr. during his rule for it to be returned to the national treasury. It is also an attached agency of the DOJ.

As of 2020, the government, through the PCGG, recovered P174.2 billion from the Marcos-ill gotten wealth.