Rather than abolish it, the Presidential Commission on Good Government will get more power to recover ill-gotten wealth if PROMDI Party presidential bet Sen. Manny Pacquiao wins the May 2022 polls.
Responding to a question raised during the Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Panata ng Bayan Presidential Forum on the efforts to recover the so-called illegally acquired wealth of the Marcos family and their allies, Pacquiao said the PCGG’s role in this bid will be supported by him during his six years as president.
“Kailangan ang para sa gobyerno sa gobyerno. Kung iyan and desisyon ng Supreme Court na may ninakaw ka, ibalik mo ang ninakaw mo. (Give government what is for the government. If the decision of the Supreme Court finds you guilty, you should bring back what you stole),” said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao’s statement was in response to the question of panelist Robbie Alampay on what he intends to do in six years as president with regards the recovery of so-called ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family.
Alampay noted that at least P174 billion had already been recovered while P100 billion more in stolen government funds are yet to be recovered.
The PCGG is the government agency tasked to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., whose only son, former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is also running for president.
Marcos Jr. did no attend the KBP forum while all is leading rivals showed up.
There have been a number of moves in Congress, especially the Hosue of Representatives to abolish the PCGG amid accusations of lackluster performance and slowness in doing its task since its creation in 1986.
Pacquiao believes that the agency should be retained and instead be strengthened to fulfill its mandate.
“The only way na magkaroon tayo ng magandang kinabukasan ay God willing, lahat ng kawatan sa gobyerno ay maipagsama-sama sa kulungan. Ipakikita ko at patutunayan ko ito sa buong bayan. (The only way for us to have a bright future, God Willin, is to throw away in jail all those involved in corruption in government),” he said.