SC: PCGG duty is to preserve, not grow sequestered assets

September 27, 2026

By ABOGADO.COM.PH Staff

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is not liable to pay interest or damages on funds it sequestered, saying its duty is to preserve, not grow sequestered assets.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, the SC’s First Division denied the petition of Palm Avenue Holding Co., Inc. and Palm Avenue Realty Development Corporation, which sought interest on funds sequestered from them.

The SC said the PCGG acts only as a caretaker of sequestered assets and is required to safeguard and return them intact including any actual interest or profits earned.

It stressed that sequestration is a government measure to preserve assets suspected of being ill-gotten, not an investment undertaking designed to generate profits for their owners.

The SC thus upheld the Sandiganbayan’s ruling that the PCGG had no duty to guarantee that the funds would earn interest while under government custody. #