Gov't going after Marcos' illegal wealth still

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Malacanang said today that the national government has not wavered in going after the ill-gotten wealth of the family of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Philippine Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has not stopped its recovery work, adhering to its mandate to recover the ill- gotten wealth of the Marcos family.

Although the PCGG does not receive much media attention sometimes, it does not necessarily mean that there's a lull in its works, Lacierda added.

"What they would like to emphasize is that the recovery work continues," he said.

There is also no update on the planned abolition of the commission, he said. But regardless of whatever plans the government has in mind for the PCGG, its work must continue, he said.

Two years ago, the PCGG said it would look into the reported ill-gotten wealth of the late president in Australia believed to be under the name of Evelin Hegyesi, a former swimsuit model in the 1970s.

The late President Corazon Aquino established the PCGG immediately after she assumed the presidency following the ouster of Marcos, who had ruled the Philippines for more than 20 years with an iron fist, through People Power in 1986.

The commission's mandate is to recover his alleged ill-gotten wealth estimated to reach some $10 billion.