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By Francis Earl A. Cueto, Reporter
THE internal war within the Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG) finally ended on Tuesday with
the appointment of Jaime Bautista as Commissioner to the agency vice
Nicasio Conti.
Conti welcomed his replacement, thanking
President Gloria Arroyo for the opportunity to serve under the PCGG.
“I thank the President for giving me the
unique opportunity to serve her administration in various capacities
as Assistant Secretary of the Office of the Presidential Chief of
Staff, Head of the Malacañang based Transparency Group and
Commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission before
becoming Commissioner of PCGG in 2005,” he said.
PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio, in a hastily called
press conference made the official announcement of the appointment
of Bautista, who will be co-chairing the legal affairs department of
the agency along with Commissioner Narciso Nario.
Bautista is no stranger to the PCGG, having been
a consultant on foreign litigations. He was Sabio’s classmate at
the Ateneo Law School.
“I want to thank President Arroyo for the
appointment and Chairman Sabio for the recommendation,” Bautista
said.
Sabio and Conti had been embroiled in a personal
war as the former allegedly wanted the latter removed due to several
misunderstandings.
A sudden confusion occurred when former
Commissioner William Dichoso made a brief return to the PCGG, and
Sabio insisted that Bautista replace Dichoso. Documents from the
Palace itself showed a letter stating that no formal appointment was
given to Dichoso.
Bautista was appointed March 27, but PCGG only
received communication concerning him on May 2.
“I am sure we will be okay now with the
litigation,” Sabio said when asked about the working condition.
Sabio added that Bautista is fully qualified for
the post, as he does not want to further spark any badmouthing.
In his statement sent to media, Conti said his
replacement by Bautista sustained his earlier position that his
service was never interrupted when he went to the United Kingdom to
attend the recently concluded Chevening Fellowship on Public Sector
Reform Course as the representative of the Republic.
“This also disproved the earlier pronouncement
of PCGG that I was replaced by former Commissioner William Dichoso,”
he said.
Conti said he will be pursuing his studies at
the Erasmus Mundus European Masters in Law and Economics at Erasmus
University at Rotterdam, The Netherlands and The University of
Bologna in Italy from 2008 to 2009.
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