William Dichoso resigned as commissioner of
the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), citing
problems about the legitimacy of his re-appointment.
PCGG Commissioner Narciso Nario said Dichoso,
whose appointment was his second under the PCGG, tendered his
irrevocable resignation last Feb. 22.
Dichoso is a returnee. His re-appointment
took effect January 2008, when Commissioner Nicanor Conti left
for the United Kingdom for a scholarship grant.
He was a recruit of the late PCGG chairman
Haydee Yorac, who led the commission firmly against any
compromise deals with the Marcoses and their cronies.
Dichoso stayed on even when Yorac left in
2005. He left PCGG in mid-2006 when he was accused of "not
[being] a team player" for disagreeing with the other
commissioners who favored compromise settlements with the
Marcoses and their cronies.
He was appointed to the Development Bank of
the Philippines (DBP) board of governors after his first stint
in the PCGG.
However, his return was marked with certain
controversies as it comes at the heels of an internal war
between Chairman Camilo Sabio and Conti whom he wanted sacked.
Sabio insisted that Conti had been replaced
by Dichoso but the former chief of the Presidential Anti-Graft
Commission (PAGC) said he is still a PCGG commissioner.
Reports said that Sabio even brought Dichoso
to the Palace during an update of the PCGG activities but was
"shooed away" by Palace officials after President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo questioned his appointment.
Sources said that the incident prompted
Dichoso to tender his resignation.
Nario however said that even if certain
doubts about the appointment of Dichoso were sorted out because
of his decision to leave, Conti’s battles are far from over as
he said that Sabio is bent of firing him.
Nario gave the assurance that the internal strife has not
affected the efficiency of the agency.
