The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) on Wednesday, December 18, said it is ready to cooperate with the Senate after Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman Richard Gordon announced he would initiate a probe into PCGG’s failure to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family.
“The PCGG welcomes Senator Gordon’s pronouncement that he intends to initiate a Senate inquiry on the recent Sandiganbayan decisions involving PCGG,” said PCGG acting chairman, Reynold Munsayac.
“The PCGG will cooperate with the Senate and submit all available data regarding the cases,” he added.
However, Munsayac insisted that most of the cases in the Sandiganbayan were filed and litigated before President Rodrigo Duterte became the country’s chief executive.
“Some of (these) were already submitted for decision as early as 2010,” he said
“In any event, the PCGG will closely coordinate with the Office of the Solicitor General to ensure that all available remedies will be availed of to protect government interest,” he added.
The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division on Monday dismissed Civil Case No. 0002 filed by the PCGG in July 1987 against the Marcoses due to lack of evidence.
“The bulk of the documentary evidence offered by the plaintiff (PCGG) are mere photocopies, most of which are barely readable. Thus, even if the Court were to defy the best evidence rule, it still could not fully ascertain the contents of these documents and make an intelligent evaluation therefrom,” said the 58-page decision.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said former PCGG officials should be summoned if a Senate probe into the agency’s string of failure pushes through.
“If there’s any legislative intent to strengthen the PCGG, I welcome the Senate inquiry. For purposes, however, of knowing how the PCGG handled the Marcos cases, it should be the past PCGG leaderships who should be summoned to explain,” he said.
“The current officials of the PCGG had hardly any involvement in the cases except to await the rendition of judgment,” he added.
