Party-list solon wants PCGG probed for ‘anomalous operations’

A PARTY-LIST lawmaker is seeking a congressional investigation into the alleged “irregular and anomalous operations” of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

“Is the PCGG still up to its mandate?” Abakada Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz said in his explanatory note to House Resolution No. 1599, which directs the committees on good government and public accountability, and justice, to investigate the agency tasked with re- covering the ill-gotten wealth of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his relatives and cronies.

De la Cruz said the PCGG had a “less than exemplary record” in implementing its mandate, as evidenced by the charges lodged against its officials and other agents for “unlawful, abu- sive and unprofessional acts.”

These, he said, included the non-accounting of assets and funds and the unwarranted disposition of such assets instead of their proper recovery and enhancement.

The PCGG was set up in 1986 after the Edsa People Power re- volt drove Marcos, his family and cronies into exile, forcing them to leave behind much of their stolen assets and lots more in foreign banks, buildings, paintings and other assets.

The assets the PCGG were to recover were intended to fund the Comprehensive Agrarian Re- form Program of the government to help poor tenant farmers.

But the PCGG’s performance has been unsatisfactory, De la Cruz said.

He cited allegations about its “negligence in the accounting of monies spent for its recovery operations in various jurisdictions, including but not limited to payments made to lawyers, accountants and other consultants in Switzerland, the United States and Singapore, among others.”

De la Cruz said the PCGG had been under fire from its own partners in the recovery effort.