More than ₱70 billion in alleged ill-gotten assets associated with the Marcos family remain subject to litigation before higher courts across 67 pending cases, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairperson Melchor Sadang disclosed during the Department of Justice’s budget hearing before the House Committee on Appropriations.
“About 67 cases, which are pending in the appellate courts, ang halaga po niyan mga more than ₱70 billion pa ho,” Sadang said.
Sadang noted that evidentiary hurdles have complicated the commission’s efforts to claim the contested assets.
“There are still assets, but when we investigated… For example, there were corporations listed in that case, but then these corporations turned out to be unregistered or non-operational na po. We don’t have anymore the witnesses. So we have to be candid with with court, by stating that we are no longer presenting evidence po,” he explained.
During questioning by ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio regarding his appointment by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Sadang confirmed his position was designated by the incumbent chief executive.
Pressed on whether the arrangement felt uncomfortable given the agency’s mandate, Sadang asserted that the administration has respected the body’s operational independence.
“Sino ang nag-appoint sa inyo?” Representative Tinio asked.
“Si Pres. Marcos po,” Sadang answered.
“Hindi po ba awkward sa inyo?” Tinio inquired.
“Awkward po, pero trabaho po ‘yan. But then to the credit of the President, and the family, we never were pressured on anything. We’ve been performing our duty independently, so wala pong undue influence,” Sadang replied.
The PCGG—established to recover assets unlawfully accumulated by former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., his immediate family, relatives, and close associates through the misuse of public office—reported cash recoveries totaling ₱182 billion from 1986 to 2024.
Overall, the commission has recovered more than ₱300 billion via civil forfeiture proceedings over the past four decades.
To build on this foundation, Sadang advocated for legislative action to broaden the commission’s jurisdiction beyond its current focus to encompass all public officials.
“Ang wish po sana namin is that the mandate of the PCGG will be expanded, but this requires a law po kasi. Presently po, our mandate is limited to a few individuals only. So we would like to expand… to include all public officials. Right now ang mandate namin is to file civil forfeiture cases. As far as corruption is concerned, that has been the template that has been used by the PCGG for the past 40 years, and we were able to recover more than ₱300 billion only through civil forfeiture,” Sadang told lawmakers.