Abcede to force through Imelda jewelry auction
05/27/2010 Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Commissioner Ricardo Abcede is set on a collision course with his colleagues including his boss, PCGG chairman Camilo Sabio as he said he intends to pursue the auction of the jewelry collection of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. To underline his determination to pursue the auction before a new administration takes over on July 1, Abcede met with Sancroft Baker, representative of Christie’s auction house yesterday afternoon at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Baker will start appraising the Roumeliotes collection after representatives of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), PCGG, Office of the President and the Commission on Audit (COA) retrieved the jewelry sets from the BSP vault where they are stored. Abcede said a gemologist from Sotheby will also arrive Thursday, to likewise conduct the appraisal. “These are all for the purpose of bidding for the right to auction the jewelry. By Friday, all appraisals would be completed after which a final meeting with the Department of Finance, Commission on Audit, Bureau of Customs and the PCGG would be held,” Abcede said. At the same time, the official defended his action on pursuing the auction despite the opposition of Sabio and Commissioners Tereso Javier, Narciso Nario and Jaime Bautista to the plan. In opposing Abcede’s plan, they said it “is not timely to consider the (auction) because this could be viewed as a so-called midnight transaction” adding that “they are in favour of leaving this matter to the next Commission.” The term of the current PCGG chairman and commissioners is set to end next month. Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100527hed6.html |
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