PCGG says it has remitted P57.2 B to CARP since 1987

More than P57 billion recovered from the family and friends of the late deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos has been plowed into the government’s land reform program, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said yesterday.

The PCGG turned over about P57.29 billion between 1987 and August 2005, Commissioner Nicasio Conti said in a statement signed and issued by the anti-corruption body’s chief information officer, Nick Suarez.

Conti made the announcement before the participants in the two-day 2005 National Mid-Year Performance Review Conference of the Department of Land Reform (DLR) held at the Sulu Hotel in Quezon City from Sept. 5 to 6.

The conference was attended by senior DLR officials and representatives from various government agencies and the private sector.

The commission was tasked with recovering money allegedly stolen by the Marcoses and their allies.

After Marcos was toppled in a military-backed popular revolt in 1986, the government passed a law allocating any recovered assets to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Most of the funds came from compromise agreements sealed between the government and cronies of Marcos, the agency said. Some Marcos allies resorted to out-of-court settlements to escape prosecution.

About 62.64 percent of the funds — about P35.89 billion — was transferred during the term of President Arroyo, the PCGG said.

The commission said it expected to contribute an additional P23.18 billion from the sale of jewelry, real estate, shares and television and radio stations once controlled by Marcos allies and relatives.

Conti said television stations RPN-9 and IBC-13 are already in the pipeline for disposition. For IBC-13, the PCGG has constituted the privatization committee and is now preparing eligibility requirements and the terms and conditions that would govern the selection of a financial advisor prior to the sale of the station.

RPN-9’s privatization council has already chosen a financial advisor for the station. The two television stations have an estimated value of P4.37 billion, Conti said.

A jewelry auction, planned for November, should raise about $10 million or P560 million, he added. The jewelry collection is currently stored in the vaults of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

During the conference’s open forum, DLR Undersecretary Severino Madronio proposed that the PCGG lease out surrendered properties still awaiting disposition to raise much-needed revenue for CARP. Conti said this was already being done by the PCGG.

Marcos ruled the Philippines for 20 years, much of it under martial law, during which he, his family and allies were accused of plundering state coffers.

A popular revolt toppled Marcos and sent him into exile in the United States in 1986, where he died in 1989. — With AFP