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Aquino abolishes PASG, PAGC

Written by magnolia_eic on 01 September 2010

Manila, Philippines – As Aquino has promised, President Benigno Aquino III has abolished redundant and underperforming agencies such as the Presidential Anti Graft Commission (PAGC) and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), Aquino has however extended the existence of problematic government-owned and controlled corporations.

Secretary Ricky Carandang quoted Budget Secretary Florencio Abad that the PASG and PAGC will not have any budget for the next year. Carandang added that in paper the PASG and PAGC may be existent, however, there will be no more budget allocations for them.

Curbing smuggling is the job of the Bureau of Customs while the Office of the Ombudsman handles graft cases involving government officials and personnel.

Regarding the GOCC’s, even those whose abnormalities have been spotted have been included in the proposed P1.645 trillion national budget for next year. This proposal has already been submitted to the Congress for hearing. Although extensions have been given to the “in the red” GOCC’s, their allocations have been cut to subsistence levels. A briefing paper from the DBM shows that the government is no longer interested in supporting the programs of GOCCs like the NFA, LRTA, MRTC and other GOCC’s.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Aquino administration is determined to cut excess fat, specifically the outlandish bonuses, perks and privileges of GOCC executives — and put a uniform basis on their salaries and other emoluments.

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