PCGG defends mandate as abolition talks heat up
More than 30 years after its creation, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is facing what appeared to be its toughest battle to date as lawmakers begin deliberation on proposals to dissolve the agency tasked to run after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
Earlier this month, the House committee on justice endorsed the consolidated version of the bills that will transfer the functions of the PCGG and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
If passed into law, the measure will effectively dissolve the 31-year-old commission created by former president Corazon Aquino following the fall of the dictatorship.
Its functions, which include litigation of cases involving ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and their cronies and the management of properties and other assets sequestered by the government, will be taken over by the OSG.
PCGG officials opposed the proposal to abolish the agency, stressing high remittance that reached more than P73 billion in the past five years. The office aims to recover as much as P100 billion worth of ill-gotten wealth in the next three years.
“PCGG is surprised at the recent questions regarding its performance, relevance and efficiency,” it said in a statement, noting that it has been awarded the best performing agency under the Department of Justice (DOJ) in recent years.
“Why is there a question on its budget and relevance when PCGG’s cost to recovery ratio is exemplary as shown by these numbers?” it added, citing high remittance as compared to its annual budget.
Although he opposes the abolition proposal, PCGG acting chairman Reynold Munsayac said the final decision would be up to President Duterte.
Conflict of interest
In a position paper submitted to Congress, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II opposed the proposal to transfer the PCGG and OGCC functions to the OSG.
As an office that provides legal services to the state, government and people, the OSG is attached to the DOJ. But if the abolition proposal would be approved, it would be attached to the Office of the President instead.
“It is our view that the OSG should continue to be an agency attached to the DOJ, mainly because the powers and functions of the OSG are devolved from this department’s power as the principal law agency of the government and as legal counsel and representative thereof,” Aguirre told justice committee chairman Rep. Reynaldo Umali.
He said transferring the powers of the two agencies to the OSG might result in conflict of interest in cases involving government agencies, noting that the OGCC sometimes finds itself on the opposing side of the OSG, especially in cases between government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) and agencies like the Bureaus of Internal Revenue and of Customs.
The OGCC is the principal law office of GOCCs, while the OSG serves as the counsel of the government in proceedings at the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
Unrecovered Marcos wealth
The PCGG said abolishing the commission might result in the failure to recover the remaining ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, including the $42 million (around P2.1 billion) from the Arelma funds previously declared ill-gotten by the Supreme Court.
It added that it expects reversal of some significant cases previously handled by the OSG, including those against Lucio Tan, Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., Armando Romualdez, Chavit Singson and 14 other cases in the next three years.
“Once PCGG is abolished, the momentum of recovery, if not the recovery itself, is lost. Then we say goodbye to recovery. Indeed, crime pays its ways,” said the commission.
This year, the PCGG said it has exceeded its target remittance of P336 million for 2017 in seven months, remitting P375 million to the Bureau of Treasury last July.
It also denied a report of the Commission on Audit (COA) claiming that it has been remiss in its duties to ensure the safety of paintings recovered from the Marcoses.
It said the three Russian paintings that disappeared were stored at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila and were never in their custody.
On the deterioration of paintings, the agency said it has not neglected the preservation of the artworks and had consistently reminded the responsible officials to conduct regular maintenance.
Marcos gold bars
In August, President Duterte announced that the Marcos family expressed interest to return wealth, including “a few gold bars,” accumulated during the dictatorship.
The President said the value of the gold bars was not that big and that the Marcos family spokesman explained that the accumulation of wealth was due to the late dictator’s belief that he will be able to regain the presidency after he fled in 1986.
Groups have questioned the announcement, with Commission on Human Rights Chairman Chito Gascon stressing that the offer should not stop the government from seeking accountability for violations committed during the martial law regime.
For Munsayac, any action that would result in the recovery of ill-gotten wealth and its return to national coffers would be a welcome move.
Bautista probe
The PCGG was also dragged into the limelight following the controversy surrounding the alleged ill-gotten wealth of its former chairman Andres Bautista, who was impeached from his post as Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair in October.
Bautista, who resigned before the impeachment trial began, was accused of committing “questionable acts” during his term as PCGG chair.
Among the allegations were the supposed hiring of ghost employees, making unliquidated cash disbursements from the dollar escrow accounts of the PCGG and showing partiality to the Luzon Development Bank (LDB) by opening short-term escrow accounts.
The current PCGG leadership said it would cooperate with any investigation about Bautista, saying it has closed the LDB accounts and discontinued other excessive and unnecessary practices of the previous PCGG officials.