PCGG ‘incompetence’ was during Arroyo’s term

I WRITE to highlight certain facts relevant to Rigoberto Tiglao’s April 25 column (“‘Biggest what of the century?’”) in connection with the 20-percent SMC shares involving Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., specifically on Tiglao’s claim that this is the biggest case of government incompetence and that the government lost P90 billion because the (Cory) Aquino-era PCGG and its lawyers were stupid or incompetent.

The current chairman and commissioners of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) would like to emphasize the fact that all the major incidents in the subject case—the filing of the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on July 11, 2003, the denial of that motion on Dec. 10, 2004 and the dismissal of the subject case for failure to present preponderant evidence on Nov. 28, 2007—all happened during the tenure of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Thus, Tiglao’s complaint against the government and government lawyers who supposedly bungled the handling of this coconut levy case should be addressed to President Arroyo, who, as chief executive, had full control over the PCGG and the Office of the Solicitor General, and had the best opportunity, if she had been so minded, to address the alleged omissions, inaction, incompetence and ineptitude Tiglao described in his column.

—NICK V. SUAREZ,
chief information officer,
Presidential Commission
on Good Government (PCGG)