Present PCGG’s cost-recovery record

This is in reaction to Neal H. Cruz’s Jan. 4 column which made reference to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). He wrote “…In 26 years of hunting, PCGG officials probably pocketed more money in the form of salaries and allowances than what they have recovered.”

We do not speak for our predecessors. We can only speak for the present commission members who were appointed by President Aquino.

The facts speak for themselves. In 2011, the PCGG remitted P268.481 million on a budget of P93 million—that is, for every peso spent on recovery efforts, P3 was remitted to the National Treasury. In 2012, on a budget of P96 million, the commission remitted to the National Treasury P567 million, exceeding its goal of P405.723 million—a cost-recovery ratio of nearly 1:6. This does not include the P56.5 billion that was remitted to the National Treasury after San Miguel Corp. exercised its option to redeem the 24-percent preferred shares. This amount constitutes the largest single recovery of the commission to date.

Moreover, the sequestered and surrendered corporations and assets directly under the control of the commission, previously a source of much corruption and deserved criticisms, have now become viable sources of income for the national government. The corporations under the commission’s care (except for one) are now operating in the black. The consolidated revenues increased from P26.1 billion in 2010 to P31.2 billion in 2011, and the performance review for January to June 2012 reflected an income of P1.9 billion.

We would be pleased to provide additional information regarding the foregoing.

—NICK V. SUAREZ,

chief information officer,

Presidential Commission on

Good Government