MANILA, Philippines — Ipinabubuwag ni Deputy Speaker Bienvenido Abante Jr. (Manila, 6th District) sa pamamagitan ng panukalang batas ang Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) na itinayo para bawiin ang mga nakaw na yaman ng diktador na si dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Sa kanyang House Bill 4331 ngayong Setyembre, iginiit ni Abante na "napaso" na ang otoridad nitong umiral lalo na't hindi raw ito pinalawig ng Konggreso. Makakatipid din daw ang gobyerno kung mawawala ito.
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Kaugnay daw ito ng Proclamation No. 3 ni dating Pangulong Corazon Aquino noong 1986 na siyang nagbigay otoridad sa PCGG maglabas ng sequestration at freeze orders.
"However, Section 26, Article 18 of the 1967 Constitution provides that the authors to issue such sequestration or freeze orders under Proclamation No. 3 shall remain operative only for not more than... (18) months after the ratification of the Constitution," wika ni Abante sa kanyang explanatory note.
"This authority has lapsed without having been extended by Congress which the latter could have done under the same Section 26, in case of national interest."
Rep. Benny Abante (Manila, 6th District) files House Bill No. 4331 abolishing the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the agency created in 1986 to recover ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family and their cronies. @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/qDx6UCcrAH
— Franco Luna (@francoIuna) September 12, 2022
Sa 2020 report ng PCGG, sinabi ng komisyon na nakabawi na ito ng P174.23 bilyon simula nang itatag ito noong 1986 sa pamamagitan ng Executive Order No. 1 ni Aquino.
Sa parehong report, sinabi rin ng PCGG na may estimated P99.678 bilyong halaga pa ng ari-ariang under litigation as of 2020.
Sa kabila nito, iginigiit ni Abante na "hindi nakapag-produce ng significant accomplishments" ang PCGG sa nakalipas na 36 taon patuloy na pag-iral nito.
"Through these years, the work performed by the Commission is not commensurate with the annual expenses need to maintain the office," dagdag pa ni Abante.
"The time is ripe to abolish PCGG in line with the cost-saving and right-sizing efforts of government."
"If after [36 years], they still failed to establish whether the sequestered asserts are ill-gotten or not and who are the owners of these assets, they will not be able to do so even if we would give it another hundred years."
Kinikilala ng Korte Suprema noong 2003, 2012 at 2017 na meron talagang ill-gotten wealth ang pamilya Marcos na tinatayang nasa $5 bilyon hanggang $10 bilyon.
Dati nang sinabi ni Bongbong na imbis na ibasura, pabor siyang "palakasin" pa nga ang PCGG — pero sa layuning gawin itong "tunay na anti-corruption commission" na hindi lang mga Marcos ang hinahabol.
Paghabol sa ninakaw ni Marcos nang walang PCGG?
Sa kabila nito, iginiit ni Abante na hindi porke nais niyang ipabasura ang PCGG ay hindi na pwedeng maghabol ng dinambong na kayamanan.
Aniya, pwede naman daw ilipat ang functions na ito sa ibang government agencies alinsunod sa batas.
"Under this bill, the powers and functions of investigations and prosecution of criminal cases exercised by the PCGG shall be transferred to the Department of Justice; Civil cases involving the management, administration, and disposition of the assets, as well as the sequestration of the properties considered to be ill-gotten vested in the PCGG shall be transferred to and shall be exercised by the Department's Office of the Government Corporate Counsel," dagdag pa niya.
Oras na maisabatas ang HB 4331, ililipat ang lahat ng naagaw na ari-arian sa kamay ng PCGG, atbp. sa Privatization Office ng Department of Finance.
Matatandaang napatalsik si Marcos Sr., na kilalang nagdeklara ng Martial Law noong 1972, ng pag-aalsang EDSA People Power noong 1986.
Dahil sa Batas Militar ni Marcos, umabot sa 70,000 katao ang kinulong, 34,000 ang tinorture habang 3,200 naman ang pinatay kaugnay ng Martial Law ni Marcos Sr., ayon sa datos ng Amnesty International. — may mga ulat mula kay Franco Luna