PAGC lawyer named PCGG commissioner

President Arroyo has appointed a new commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government while Commissioner Camilo Sabio was promoted as chairman, taking the post vacated by former PCGG chairman Haydee Yorac, who resigned last April.

Lawyer Nicasio Conti, commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC), was appointed by Mrs. Arroyo to the PCGG last July 20.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, the PCGG said Conti took his oath of office yesterday before Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita in a simple ceremony held at Malacañang’s Premier Guest House.

Prior to his post as PAGC commissioner, Conti was the Assistant Secretary at the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff and Head of the Malacañang-based Transparency Group from January 2003 to September 2004.

The Transparency Group is the anti-corruption body that initiated the lifestyle checks and investigation of ill-gotten wealth of public officials and employees, which was lauded by the World Bank as an effective tool for instilling integrity in public service.

In 2004, Conti was awarded by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) as the Outstanding Law Enforcer of the year. He was the legal consultant of Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) and Philippine Information Agency (PIA) from 2001 to 2002.

Conti finished his Bachelor of Laws from San Beda College of Law in 1998 and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree, cum laude and class salutatorian in 1994. He is a professor of Economics in San Beda College since 1998.

He is a member of the Philippine technical  working group (TWG) of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the House of Representatives Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulations on the proposed anti-red tape bills and the TWG of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) addressing investors’ concerns.

In 2003, he attended the first global post-graduate course on corruption studies as a United States Agency for International Development-Economic Governance Technical Assistance (USAID-EGTA) scholar at the Hong Kong University  School of Professional and Continuing Education under Tony Kwok Man Wai, former Deputy Commissioner of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). He has also served as a Philippine government consultant on corruption prevention and had received the Highest Award of Distinction.

During his incumbency as Transparency Group head, Conti  wrote the book "To Serve with Honor: A Primer Against Corruption".

Mrs. Arroyo also appointed earlier two other PCGG commissioners to replace two members who resigned a few months ago.

Also appointed were lawyer Ricardo Abcede, national chairman of the Filipino Lawyers for Good Governance (FILGOOD); and Alvin Dans, former chairman of the National Amnesty Commission (NAC).

Abcede replaced former PCGG commissioner Ruben Carranza Jr., while Dans replaced former commissioner Vyva Victoria Aguirre.

As chairman of the PCGG, Sabio will handle the finance and administration department, the coco levy cases and other offices under the PCGG chairman.

PCGG Commissioner William Dichoso will handle the PCGG’s legal department and will take responsibility for all matters pertaining to Philippine litigation, except the coco levy cases.

Dichoso is also tasked to handle compromise agreements while Abcede is tasked to handle PCGG’s asset and management department. Dans, meanwhile, is handling PCGG’s research and development department and all matters pertaining to foreign litigation.

Yorac resigned from the agency last April to go back to private practice. Aguirre resigned last May while Carranza left the PCGG in September 2004.