The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) declined to comment on whether the picture shown on former First Lady Imelda Marcos’ wall was the missing Pablo Picasso painting “Reclining Woman VI.”
PCGG Chairman John Agbayani indicated in Mariz Umali’s exclusive report on “24 Oras” that the commission would not reveal what it planned to do, but assured the public that it was committed to recovering ill-gotten cash.
“I don’t want to speculate. The fact remains that we seized that painting in 2014, and it was reported as a replica in the sheriff’s return,” Agbayani said.
The PCGG seized 15 artworks in one of Imelda’s homes in 2014, according to a copy of the return of writ attachment to the Sandiganbayan Special Division.
The lost Picasso was among them. However, the recovered masterpiece was discovered to be a duplicate.
In images provided by the camp of presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Imelda’s home following Eleksyon 2022, a painting appeared to be the missing “Reclining Woman IV.”
When asked if it was the missing Picasso on Twitter, former PCGG chairman Andres Bautista answered with a thumbs-up emoji and said it was also featured in the documentary The Kingmaker about Imelda Marcos.
PCGG can’t tell if ‘Picasso painting’ seen in Imelda’s house is original
Atty. Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ spokesman, has subsequently challenged Bautista to return to the Philippines and confront the Marcoses there.
When asked if the PCGG would conduct another inspection of the former First Lady’s home, Agbayani said: “That’s an act which will not be publicized because you are looking for something, eh.”
“That’s why I said the implementation of whatever writ may be issued by the courts would no longer be effective because of the publicity and noise about it,” Agbayani said.
“We can do it discreetly if you want. If you ask me whether we will do something to visit the place etc., I’m sorry we will not tell you what we’re going to do,” he added.
“I’ll just assure you that the PCGG is still committed to performing its mandate on recovery,” Agbayani said.
According to the PCGG, 141 artworks are still missing.
It is now working with the Art Loss Register to locate them but conceded that finding them all would be challenging.
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