Ping Lacson says PCGG meant to only go after Marcos wealth
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson refuted the proposal of his fellow presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that the Presidential Commission on Good Government — created to go after the latter’s family — can go after just any other corrupt individual.
Should Marcos win, he could just create a separate body to address specific issues, Lacson pointed out.
Lacson, at a press conference in Ormoc City, noted that the PCGG was created specifically to run after the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth.
“If it will be expanded [to cover other corrupt individuals], don’t we have the [Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission] and we have the [Office of the] Ombudsman, we have the Sandiganbayan,” he said partly in Filipino in the transcript of the interview sent to reporters.
“Well, anybody who becomes a president can create by way of an Executive Order what agency he wants to create to address specific problems or issues,” Lacson added.
This was in reaction to Marcos’ proposal that he will “strengthen” the PCGG to address graft and corruption in the government. He also claimed, in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines, that the PCGG’s function “has lapsed, they cannot file cases anymore.”
PCGG role
The PCGG, which was organized in 1986 shortly after the Marcos family was overthrown, has long batted calls for abolition from Congress. The agency is under the executive branch where Marcos, should he win, would sit as chief.
In its 2020 Annual Report, the PCGG said it had recovered P174.230 billion since its establishment in 1986 until Dec. 31, 2020.
In the same accomplishment report, PCGG said it has an estimated P99.678-billion value of assets under litigation as of the end of 2020.
Marcos is also being hounded by the estate tax liabilities his family owes to the government that is estimated to be at P203.19 billion, including penalties, surcharges and interest. A Supreme Court order showed that the decision has reached finality in 1997.
Marcos’ recent exclusive interview with CNN Philippines skipped the estate tax issue, while the frontrunner walked away when he was asked about it at an ambush interview on March 22.
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