PCGG gets go-signal to press compromise deals with Marcoses

With communication lines now apparently open, President Arroyo has given the go signal for the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to proceed with negotiations for compromise agreements with the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede, who is in charge of the Asset Management Department of the PCGG, told The STAR yesterday that he has already started the work on a possible compromise settlement with the Marcoses.

"I intend to pursue this as soon as possible... because I know it’s good for the country," he said. "I would like to pursue this to its end despite the objections of the opposition."

Abcede said there have been indications that former First Lady Imelda Marcos is ready to sit down with the PCCG to discuss a possible compromise settlement to end their decades-long legal battles.

"If we want compromise settlement, let’s do it now. Let us not just talk about it," he stressed.

Abcede said he is willing to initiate the talks and contact Mrs. Marcos though her lawyer, Robert Sison, who has been representing her in the case involving her sequestered jewelry now being kept at the vaults of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

"Either side can initiate it. It’s either I, as PCGG commissioner, or somebody else known to both parties," he said.

Abcede, however, admitted that there was no formal agreement yet on how soon both parties could sit down to out-of-court negotiations that could lead to the settlement of hundreds of cases pending in various courts for more than 20 years now.

In parallel moves, PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio has also been conducting his own negotiations for a possible compromise settlement with San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco on the disposition of the coconut levy funds.

Abcede noted that Mrs. Arroyo has always been consistent in her desire for a closure to the Marcos ill-gotten wealth cases as mentioned in her state of the nation address and her EDSA speeches over the past three years.

"She has always been giving her hand of reconciliation but it has always been rejected by the opposition. Reconciliation is not for the President but for the Filipino people. So, maybe these (compromise deals) will open the door for unity and reconciliation," Abcede explained.

The PCGG commissioner scored the demands of certain sectors to continue with the policy of "reconciliation with justice" in the pursuit of any compromise deals with the Marcoses and their cronies.

"I find this ‘reconciliation with justice’ policy an oxymoron. It’s like cutting a person’s hand and inviting that person to ‘talk’ so that the case can be closed," Abcede said. "It doesn’t work that way."

The reconciliation with justice policy was pursued by the PCGG under the administration of former President Corazon Aquino. Under this policy, the PCGG has engaged in legal battles with the Marcos heirs.

"But where has it brought us after 20 years? If we continue with this mindset, it may take another 20 years," Abcede argued, pointing out that the Supreme Court itself encourages parties to enter into compromise agreements to decongest the courts.

Abcede, however, could not say what the PCGG would have to offer and give up in return for the proposed out-of-court deals with the Marcoses. He merely said: "In any compromise, you have to sacrifice. You give a little, you lose some."

To date, he said the PCGG has turned over to the National Treasury some P62 billion worth of assets of the Marcoses and their cronies. He believes that this is only about a fourth of the total assets of the Marcoses. Lately, there have been reports that the Marcoses own secret bank accounts in Spain and other European countries and an alleged gold bullion collection in Klotten, Switzerland.

"We don’t even know the extent of their wealth. There must be full disclosure and there must be good faith by both parties," Abcede stressed.