Amid calls for its abolition, PCGG remains relevant, says commission chief

Reynold S. Munsayac, acting chief of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (Photo from the PCGG website)

Amid calls for its abolition, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) showed that it remains as “one of the most efficient government agencies,” having already exceeded its over P300-million remittance target for 2017, which will be used by the Duterte administration to help farmers improve their lives.

The PCGG said that, in just the first half of the year, it was able to remit to the Bureau of Treasury around P357 million, well over the agency’s P336-million target for this year. It added that another P100 million is expected to be remitted to the government by year-end, bringing the total to almost half-a-billion pesos.

Reynold Munsayac, PCGG acting chair, said that, despite questions on its relevance and efficiency, the PCGG had proven itself again as “one of the most efficient government agencies,” turning over in the last six years an average of P130.19 for every peso spent by the government.

Munsayac noted that a significant portion of the amount collected, or around P260 million, had been set aside for farmers through agrarian reform programs.

“Unlike other government revenue agencies, the recoveries of the PCGG are nontax revenues and these funds go directly either to the agrarian reform program or to the human rights victims,” Munsayac said in a statement. “To be sure, PCGG’s cost to recovery ratio speaks for its relevance and efficiency.”

He pointed out though that the commission’s “exemplary performance” was not just because of the recent calls, particularly by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, to abolish the agency.

“[It’s] but a significant testament to PCGG’s unwavering commitment toward excellence in public service,” Munsayac said.

Last month, Diokno sought to abolish the government agency, which is primarily tasked with recovering the estimated $10-billion ill-gotten wealth of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his family, and cronies, as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to “rightsize” the government.

In March, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez filed House Bill No. 5233, which would effectively abolish the three-decade-old PCGG, which would be integrated with the Office of the Solicitor General, currently led by Jose Calida, a known Marcos sympathizer.

Bonifacio Ilagan, convener of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang (Carmma), told the Inquirer recently that Diokno’s proposal to abolish the agency was just but another effort to condition the public mind that the PCGG would have to go.

“It’s a thorn on their side – these efforts to discover [and recover] the hidden wealth of the Marcoses. We have always said that Bongbong’s goal is to become president,” Ilagan said, referring to the dictator’s only son and namesake, former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Rose Trajano, secretary general of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (Pahra), said that if the plan to do away with the PCGG pushes through, this would only embolden corrupt officials.

“This would send a message to plunderers that the government is not sincere in its efforts to fight corruption and other excesses,” she said.

Since its creation in 1986, the PCGG has sequestered more than P170.4 billion worth of assets, or around $3.4 billion. To ensure that the excesses of the dictatorship will not be lost on the youth, the PCGG is planning to hold next month a two-week exhibit at the MET of the paintings recovered from the Marcoses. /atm

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