Bongbong wants PCGG going after corrupt, not just Marcoses

Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he wants the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to go after individuals involved in corruption and not just the Marcoses.

Marcos stressed that issues about his family’s ill-gotten wealth are already in the courts.

“Instead of directing themselves against the Marcoses only, I mean kung meron akong corrupt na kamag-anak, eh di lalabas ang pangalan niya but not only us, lahat,” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

(Instead of directing themselves against the Marcoses only, I mean if I have a corrupt relative, his name will come out, but not only us, everyone.)

“Nasa ibang panahon na tayo eh. Hindi na ‘yun (ill-gotten wealth) ang issue. Ang issue is just graft and corruption in the government,” he added.

(We are in another period. That (ill-gotten wealth) is no longer the issue. The issue is just graft and corruption in the government.)

PCGG was created by then President Corazon Aquino in 1986 to recover the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his family, relatives, subordinates, and close associates.

In 2019, PCGG said it recovered P172 billion in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family.

A Sandiganbayan decision dated September 28, 2021 also ordered Royal Traders Holding Company, Incorporated (RTHCI) to pay the Philippine government at least P367 million, which was part of Marcos family's money.

Marcos said he plans to strengthen the role of PCGG by providing a bigger budget and additional manpower.

“They’re already there. Eh di gamitin mo na. Patibayin mo pa para talagang meron kang agency na walang ginawa kundi nagbabantay na walang gumagawa ng kalokohan,” he said.

(They’re already there. Use it. Strengthen it so that you really have an agency that does nothing but see to it that no one commits wrongdoing.)

The presidential bet also said that he will set an example by not tolerating graft and corruption in his administration.

“Leading by example is very simple. Do not tolerate this kind of ‘yung ginagawa na kinukuha ‘yung pera ng gobyerno. At a lower level in bureaucracies, if we improve the efficiency, ang ideal diyan lalo na sa lower levels, walang fixer,” Marcos Jr. said.

“At a higher level it goes back to the people you choose. Meron talaga diyan walang inisip kung hindi ‘Paano tayo kikita rito?’ Huwag tayong kukuha ng mga ganun. At kung meron mang nakalusot na may ginawa, parusahan mo,” he added.—LDF, GMA News