May 25, 2006 · Posted in: Congress Watch, In the News
Criticisms rain on PCGG
for compromise talks with Marcoses
A resolution was filed today at the House of Representatives calling for an investigation of alleged compromise agreements being negotiated by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) with the Marcos family over the recovery of ill-gotten wealth.
House Resolution 1264 was filed by party-list representatives Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño Jr., and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna; Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis; and Liza Maza of Gabriela.
The lawmakers said any compromise agreement between the PCGG and the Marcoses that will involve the dropping of criminal charges against the family of the late dictator, will “abet the continued victimization of the victims of human rights violations and steal from Filipino martyrs the justice that they have so heroically fought for.”
Such agreements will also “further endanger the possibility of Filipinos benefiting from the ill-gotten Marcos wealth,” the resolution said.
It also stressed that if the PCGG will make any compromises at all, they should involve only the civil cases being faced by the Marcoses, and not the criminal ones. “It cannot preempt the courts,” the resolution said.
The lawmakers quoted Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr., who is hearing the criminal cases filed against Mrs. Imelda Marcos, as having said that PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede’s statement — that “there must be a way of dismissing the criminal cases” — was unethical.
Earlier this week, Deputy Majority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said that any settlement with the Marcos family will amount to “an act of concession which can never be a fair and just resolution to the country’s long quest to recover Marcos-embezzled funds.”
“After having waited 20 years to fully recover and benefit from the vast amount of money Marcos and his close associates stole from the country’s coffers, why should Filipinos settle for less?” Lagman said in a statement.
He added that the process of recovering the ill-gotten wealth should be hastened, so that the amounts that have been “plundered” be returned.
Read HR 1264 here.
10 Responses to Criticisms rain on PCGG
for compromise talks with Marcoses
freewheel
May 25th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I have this nagging suspicion, the usurper in Malacanan wants this issue concluded to create a PRECEDENT: criminals and plunderers can buy their way out from the mess they created in exchange for money.
Thus, when their time is up and its their turn to face the music, they can always seek refuge to the argument; Why,… I paid you, idiots!
jr_lad
May 25th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
“The lawmakers quoted Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr., who is hearing the criminal cases filed against Mrs. Imelda Marcos, as having said that PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede’s statement — that “there must be a way of dismissing the criminal cases” — was UNETHICAL.”
i am not surprise at all. imagine abcede partying w/ imelda. what would you expect if a govt. prosecutor or a judge is partying w/ a mafiosi boss who’s in trial? BATMAN BEGINS!
schumey
May 25th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
It is not true that this compromise was being struck to benefit the farmers and victims of the Marcos dictatorship. The US lawyer who’s representing the human rights victims revealed that its the government who’s been fighting the victims in the courts. The administration the lawyer said wants all the money to go to the national treasury, taking the victims and the funding for agrarian reform out of the picture. Talk about double-speak and treachery.
Of the P 32B previously recovered, only P 5B remains according to the COA report. This was suppose to be for the farmers, yet not a single centavo has reached the beneficiaries. The administration has milked this dry, I just wonder how they’ll “handle” the funds should the compromise push through.
ryebosco
May 26th, 2006 at 2:29 am
Here’s my fair suggestion to bring closure to the alleged loots of the walang hiyang familia and their friends and cronies:
1. Imelda, there is still a chance to cleanse your name. Simply confess and return the money to the people. The Philippines will for sure turn you into a living saint. Perhaps even have a statue made as the “Mother of the Philippines.” It’s never too late Imelda. Do it before you die.
2. If Imelda and their cronies don’t return the money (I think after 20 years it’s safe to say that the stolen money is indeed out of reach), I say the Justice Department should grant all Marcos victims the necessary means for a week to hunt these thieves–corruption cleansing if you will.
I just find it very sad that millions are unemployed, underemployed and lack education while the thieves, cronies and their children and mga apo are attending exclusive schools, eating the best food and living in compounds with tight security…thanks to their swindling abilities and our apathy.
Cecile Impens
May 26th, 2006 at 2:54 am
With the he Marcoses back in the government, with the former Marcos still holding key positions, that reports of Arroyo’s last electoral spendings derived from the Marcos ill-gotten wealth, then what are we expecting still? Bad enough that the amount recovered from the Swiss bank been deposited in the Philippines is already malicious! These vultures knew exactly when is the time for attack, under the noses of the unsuspecting Filipinos!
Cecile Impens
May 26th, 2006 at 3:00 am
Sorry for the missing link:
with the former Marco cronies still holding key positions,
aus_phil
May 27th, 2006 at 7:42 am
It is morally wrong to compromise with a regime or personality that had done tremendous hardship, corruption, illicit accumulation of hidden wealth from the people’s coffer!
These people could kiss their evil money goodbye but as a proud Filipino people, compromise is merely to legitimize the ill wills of the Marcos regime.
People have already suffered so much and there should be no turning back in the quest to recover these hidden wealth, no matter how long it takes! Justice has not yet been served and PCGG is already talking of compromise!
Let the Marcoses use this money to pay their debt in heaven! They may likely need more than what they have accumulated so far!
PCGG’s moral ground is highly questionable! It’s performance is a dismal!
naykika
May 27th, 2006 at 9:18 am
I believe PCGG is an accronym for Something like Good Government. Now you tell the Pilipino People how could you have that good government when you compromise with its corrupters, its plunderers and its criminals. When you go after these people from the start, the aim here was to make sure that they get punished so the next one would not commit the same, that they could never avail of their plunders, not in their own lifetime, nor the heirs to their cirmes.
stoxbnx3
May 30th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
i don’t see logic in conducting these compromise talks. why compromise when the case against the marcoses could easily be won without negotiations? in the game of life, one onlys agree to negotiations if he/she is the losing party, which the government is not.
second, what the marcoses did was too inhuman, too brutish, too devilish, to ever be worthy of a settlement. the act of negotiationg itself would trivialize the value of the lives lost and the blood and tears shed during martial law. maybe we should torture the members of PCGG so they would know how it felt.
freewheel
May 31st, 2006 at 2:54 pm
stoxbnx3:
a logic is slowly coming to life.
why the compromise?
for several reasons, as to the why’s: the government does NOT intend to win any court case against the Marcoses.
Malacanan occupants and its bunch of sychopants, wants the recovered loot transformed into a private cookie jar- possible source of funds for sinister projects, say like ‘liquidating’ poor, humble, yet vocal critics: i.e. bayan muna supporters.
Second, go and try to win a single legal battle against the subjects, and implement terms of penalty- you will be sending a stern message to would be criminals and known criminals alike, that crime does not pay.
Alas!, No!, they dont want this kind of message known. On the contrary, B I L K a nation’s coffer by hundreds of millions, possibly billions in US dollar denominations and you will reap fruits of such labor: suddenly government functionaries issue statements effectively condoning felonious acts, if not outright defending culprits!
In a masterful cadence, the public is fed with lies; in deliberate dosages and spews, all designed to create an impression- the bulk of the loot is unrecoverable.
Thus, the third: the Marcos lifelong legacy to Pinoys, for everybody to realize and see- it does not pay to be a small-time thief, BUT it pays to be big-time.
So there goes the legacy; leader after leader, after leader – plundering and thieving with impunity, is all but possible.
Is there any logic in all these?
I think, i found one: that, of the CROOKED and WARPED minds…