My interview with Boboy Parlade, the youngest commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Commission_on_Good_Government). All his claims were backed up by voluminous documents since left to rot.
In 1990 I wrote:
“At 31, the newest Good Government Commissioner has
become an expert at evading press. Why? Because he knows about former President
Ferdinand Marcos’ hidden wealth more than anyone in this country.
This being only his second job, Good Government commissioner Caesar
Octavius ‘Boboy’ Parlade feels that he has to prove his worth to a lot of
people. But his staff, convinced that he is qualified as a commissioner,
apparently do not agree.
Boboy admits to having no political leanings; he sees himself as a
man assigned to do a special job: to seek out Marcos' hidden loot. A certified
public accountant by profession, Parlade just wants to do his task as
effectively as he could.
Considered as the PCGG's 'whiz kid,' Parlade apparently was the
only one able to decipher the intricate puzzle surrounding the whereabouts of
the Marcos wealth.
Like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, he examined the partly burnt
sheets of paper discovered in Malacañang after the Marcoses fled the country in
February 1986. Unravelling the mess, he traced their origins and was able to
identify the depository banks of the ill-gotten wealth.
From personal receipts he noted Marcos' notations that approved
nefarious deals, some of them even gave the amount of his share.
Other voluminous documents are waiting to be sorted out.
They are kept at the PCGG Research Department of which Parlade was
director.
As head of the Department, Parlade was often consulted by the
succession of PCGG chairmen and commissioners on the ins and outs of Marcos'
hidden wealth.
When news of Michael de Guzman and 'Operation Big Bird' first broke
out early last year, it was Parlade who dug into his documents, discovering De
Guzman's alleged connection to Marcos.
The civil racketeering case the PCGG filed against Marcos and his heirs before a California District Court is only one of Parlade's accomplishments.
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