If the only reason for the continuing existence of the Presidential Commission on Good Government is to wait for the resolution of cases involving ill-gotten wealth, then the agency should just be abolished. Litigation is the responsibility of government prosecutors. The task can be handled by the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General, without the burden of maintaining a bureaucracy whose heads keep getting involved in controversies.
The PCGG should have been abolished years ago. It was created to track down the Marcoses’ hidden wealth. It was also tasked to supervise private enterprises that were taken over by the government after the 1986 people power revolt until true ownership of the companies is established. Twenty-two years after the fall of Ferdinand Marcos, the hunt for his billions has stalled so much the Arroyo administration is reportedly exploring a negotiated settlement with his heirs. Litigation over rightful ownership of several sequestered companies has crawled along at glacial pace, but this is the responsibility of government prosecutors, not the PCGG.
In the meantime, one PCGG commissioner invited former first lady Imelda Marcos to his birthday party, while other PCGG officials have been accused of corruption in connection with sequestered companies. Board seats in these firms have become sinecures doled out by whoever is in power in the name of political patronage.
The government’s track record in punishing those accused of looting national coffers during the Marcos dictatorship has not been encouraging. Marcos died in exile without being convicted of anything in connection with corruption. Imelda Marcos has been on an uninterrupted winning streak in all the court cases filed against her, including one in New York City where the lead prosecution attorney was Rudy Giuliani. These days her clan, with its vast wealth intact, is courted for political support by whoever is in power. The PCGG has shown no indication that it is set to find any new hidden trove of ill-gotten wealth. This agency has outlived its usefulness.