MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has remitted to the National Treasury $10 million (P430 million) which it has withdrawn from a special contingency fund deposited with the Philippine National Bank (PNB).
The special legal fund started with an initial deposit of $30 million in 2004. It was created by the late PCGG chairman Haydee Yorac, to ensure that the commission has funds to pay foreign legal counsels particularly those handling the recovery of the $22 million West LB deposit in Singapore and the $30 million Arelma account in fallen New York stockbrokerage Merril Lynch that has been taken over by Bank of America.
The special contingency fund grew to $39 million due to interest earnings. By the end of the term of controversial former PCGG chairman Camilo Sabio, the account balance had gown down to around $20 million as a result of disbursements made by officials of PCGG, Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), and even PNB executives for foreign travel expenses and payments to foreign legal counsels.
Andres “Andy” Bautista, PCGG chairman, said the decision to withdraw monies from the PNB contingency fund was a result of the favorable decision by the New York Court of Appeals last week to dismiss the proceedings on the Arelma case and respect the judgment of the Philippine Supreme Court to forfeit said funds in favor of the Republic of the Philippines.
Bautista, dean of the Far Eastern University Institute of Law, said the PCGG remains hopeful that it is only a matter of time before it can finally recover the more than P3 billion being litigated in New York and Singapore of the Marcos ill-gotten wealth which were stolen from the national coffers more than 26 years ago.