Aquino not keen on abolishing PCGG, says much still has to be done

By Delon Porcalla
The Philippine Star 

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines – President Aquino yesterday hinted he is not keen on abolishing the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) as recommended by its chairman Andres Bautista.

Aquino said much still needs to be done in recovering ill-gotten wealth.

“Instead of abolishing it (PCGG), we must see to it that their job is already finished. So, again, he (Bautista) offered his opinion, I need to see the details on why he made that opinion,” he said.

Aquino made the statement after meeting local Liberal Party (LP) leaders at the cultural and sports complex here.

His latest remarks however contradict earlier statements made in November 2011 when he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Aquino at the time suggested transferring PCGG’s functions to other key agencies.

“Instead of taking our time solving this, it has been said that even (the late) President (Ferdinand) Marcos would not be, or members of his family, would not be in a position of (having) the entirety of knowledge or even part of it,” Aquino had told newsmen at the Hilton Hotel.

“I’ve come across about five books talking about Marcoses gold. I talked to one person who was supposed to be part of their staff 20 years ago saying it was located here and there, but until now they have not really located it,” he added.

PCGG chairman Bautista in early 2011 said it would take them two years to wind up their affairs and pave the way for the agency’s abolition.

Bautista added they are in the process of putting the finishing touches to a proposed law that will call for its abolition.

The issue came about after Marcos supporters, a vast majority of whom have settled in Hawaii, held a rally urging Aquino to reconsider his decision against giving full military honors and a hero’s burial for the late strongman.

Aquino, nevertheless, said he had yet to meet the concerned PCGG officials on the issue of recovering the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies, noting they have to make sure all such fruits of corruption are fully recovered.

“Is the search for ill-gotten wealth concluded and (can be left to) the prosecutors, the Ombudsman, and other entities in the legal branch or the judicial branch of our system?” he asked.

“So we have yet to meet, for them to formalize their verbal report a few months ago. The opinion of chairman Bautista is that PCGG has done what it’s supposed to do. But I would want to review the premises also,” Aquino said. Malacañang declared early this year that since its post-Marcos inception in 1986, the PCGG that the late President Corazon Aquino created was never meant to be a permanent office.

“The idea of PCGG, if you look at (its) history, it was never meant to be a permanent institution,” Secretary Edwin Lacierda, spokesman for President Aquino – Cory’s only son – told a news briefing at the Palace.

“Why? Because at a certain point, all cases will be filed, all cases will be decided on. But while the cases are there, we have to continue to recover those ill-gotten wealth,” he said.

Lacierda echoed the same line of Bautista though that government efforts to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies will still continue through the justice and finance departments.

“Just to make it clear, the pursuit of ill-gotten wealth will continue regardless of whether the recommendation will be acted upon by the President. They already have some recommendations as to who will take over the pursuit of ill-gotten wealth cases,” he said.

The Department of Justice will take charge of prosecuting the cases while the Department of Finance will handle the assets that have been frozen, along with the seized properties from the Marcoses and their cronies.

Since a draft bill has been submitted by the PCGG to Congress for the agency’s eventual abolition, Lacierda said it would now be up to the Senate and the House of Representatives to act on it.

“As to how Congress will take it, they still have to discuss amongst themselves. But I think the primordial issue is what will happen to the cases if the bill is acted on favorably,” Lacierda said.

A significant portion of the bill discusses and provides for a transition process.

“I guess we will leave it with the authorities or Congress to decide as to whether it is time for a legislative abolition of the PCGG. But again, there’s a process. There’s a transition process and the ill-gotten wealth cases will continue,” Lacierda stressed.