House just a step away from abolishing PCGG

In what critics described as a big step in the rehabilitation of the Marcos family, the House of Representatives passed on second reading a bill abolishing the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

On Tuesday evening, the 292-member chamber approved House Bill No. 7376 repealing the law that allowed government to run after billions of pesos of alleged ill-gotten wealth during the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship.

The bill, principally sponsored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, will be put to a nominal vote when Congress resumes session on May 14.

Under the proposed law, the powers and mandate of the PCGG, as well as the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, shall be transferred to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), whose head, Jose Calida, campaigned for Marcos’ son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in the 2016 vice presidential election.

The PCGG is tasked with the recovery of all alleged ill-gotten wealth accumulated by Marcos, his family and cronies.

As of 2016, a total of P170 billion has been recovered by the PCGG from the Marcoses and their cronies. The PCGG estimates the Marcoses stashed between $5 billion and $10 billion during Marcos’ 20-year rule.

But critics of the bill said it was another sign of the Marcoses returning to power.

“The Duterte administration’s moves to rehabilitate the Marcoses took another giant leap forward with … [the House bill],” said ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio.