MANILA, Philippines -- Victims of human rights violations during the Marcos era have joined a former enforcer of martial law, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, in calling for the abolition of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

Former Akbayan Representative Loretta Ann Rosales, chairperson of the human rights group Claimants 1081, agreed with Enrile that the agency, which has been tasked to recover Marcos ill-gotten wealth, had outlived its purpose and was mired in “so much graft and corruption.”

Enrile, the defense minister during the Marcos dictatorship, said on Sunday that the PCGG should be abolished after claiming that the agency’s chair, Camilo Sabio, went to Europe with his family and some friends in a trip paid for by sequestered firms.
“Sabio has long been accused of using funds [from] sequestered firms for junkets abroad with his friends and family,” Rosales said.

“The PCGG should be abolished because it has already done its job. They’ve exhausted their mandate and is now mired in so much graft and corruption,” she added.

When asked to react to allegations about a European junket, Sabio again declined to comment, saying: “Thank you but I do not wish to make a comment now.”