Pimentel wants PCGG dissolved

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/20 June) – Senator Aquilino Pimentel wants the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)  dissolved for its alleged “dismal failure to recover a huge portion of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies, notably the Pl5 billion worth of jewelry of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos and the coconut levy assets believed to be worth about Pl00 billion.” In a press statement, Pimentel, Senate minority leader from Mindanao,  said the “apparent ineptness” of the Commission in getting back the assets and pursuing the criminal cases against the Marcoss and their cronies “only lend credence to the long-held suspicion of a secret compromise deal between the government and the private parties involved.”

Pimentel found it “appalling” that newly-designated Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raul Gonzalez, former secretary of justice, announced that government was thinking of turning over the seized jewels to Imelda Marcos due to supposed failure to file the necessary cases in court.

Pimentel said the logical course of action is “to abolish the PCGG since it has failed to live up to its mandate.”

The PCGG is a special body with quasi-judicial functions created under Executive Order No.1 issued by President Corazon C. Aquino on February 28, 1986, three days after the Marcoses fled Malacanang.

Three basic tasks have been entrusted to the Commission: the recovery of ill-gotten wealth accumulated during the Marcos regime; the investigation of such cases of graft and corruption as may be assigned by the President; and the adoption of institutional safeguards to prevent corruption in Government.

The PCGG’s mandate is to “prosecute vigorously to a successful conclusion the cases for the recovery of ill-gotten wealth and, pending judicial determination of the ownership thereof, to preserve and maintain the assets.”

It is also tasked to “gather, evaluate and investigate information regarding ill-gotten wealth;
to issue sequestration, hold and/or freeze or to lift such orders as may be warranted; to preserve, maintain and prevent dissipation of sequestered assets; to file and prosecute cases whether civil or criminal for the recovery of ill-gotten wealth; and to promote sustained efficiency and maintain the integrity of all its transactions.”

Pimentel said the PCGG has been operating for the last 23 years “and it has been repeatedly reminded to do its job.”

“Twenty three years are more than enough for any agency to perform its functions. If after that long period of time, and they still failed to establish whether the sequestered assets are ill-gotten or not and who are the owners of these assets, they will not be able to do so even if you would give another hundred years. It would be better to abolish the agency,” Pimentel said.

However, Pimentel said the abolition of the PCGG does not mean that the recovery of plundered wealth and its proper disposition will no longer be pursued.   He said these functions will be transferred to government agencies which under the law can assume responsibility and has the expertise to competently undertake and continue such functions.

Pimentel suggested that the powers and functions of the PCGG be transferred to two other government agencies, as contained in Senate Bill 292 which he authored

He wants the PCGG’s authority to investigate and prosecute criminal and civil cases involving ill-gotten wealth, be taken over by the Office of Special Prosecutor of the Ombudsman while the management and disposition of the assets and properties that were sequestered by the PCGG shall be turned over to and exercised by the Department of Finance through its Privatization Office.

Pimentel also said the Senate should ask Malacanang and the PCGG to explain why Radio Philippines Network-Channel 9 and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation-Channel l3 remain under government instead of being privatized.

“What happened to the administration’s privatization plan for the two sequestered broadcast networks? In the meantime, these broadcast networks are being used as mouthpiece of the administration. That is not right,” he said.

“That is not what makes a good society where the media or medium of communication are controlled by the government. If ever the government these media facilities are controlled by the government, they should be run like the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom where they operate like free agents in which both pro- and anti-government views are heard,” Pimentel said. (MindaNews)