PCGG launches website on government information

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has launched a website that will allow the public to give government information on the missing artworks allegedly part of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family.

Called the Missing Art Movement, the portal (http://missingart.ph) contains the Portraits of Corruption, a gallery of missing artworks that were supposedly purchased by the Marcoses using the people’s money.

“Each painting today will fetch millions of dollars, enough to build better school buildings, stronger and wider roads and permanent shelter for victims of the series of calamities that hit the country in recent years,” said PCGG.

Among the artworks identified were those of Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Monet and Michelangelo, which the agency estimated to be valued at $50 million each.

The agency said at least 146 artworks supposedly purchased by the Marcoses have yet to be recovered.

“The aim is to get the full worth of all paintings so that their true owners, the Filipino people, can genuinely benefit from those,” it added.

“Everyone, and not just Filipinos, is invited to join this people power movement simply by raising and spreading awareness about the missing paintings in the hope that we will be pointed to where these world-class art pieces are,” said PCGG.

With the website, Internet users will be able to share the content on social media accounts and participate in the discussions.

“It would be an affront against previous and present generations if we would just let this pass us by,” the PCGG said of efforts to find the missing painting.