Arroyo forms task force to probe Legacy

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has formed an inter-agency task force to investigate the troubled Legacy Group, and given the body a six-month deadline to finish its work.

Under Executive Order 258, Gloria Arroyo said a representative from the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) would head the investigative body.

The task force will also include representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Justice (DoJ), Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), and Housing and Land Use and Regulatory Board (HLURB), according to the order.

Representatives from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and a civic organization to be identified by the President will be “invited to participate” in the inquiry, the order read.

“The task force shall have sufficient and full power to conduct an in-depth investigation surrounding the Legacy [group’s] P30-billion cases and the people responsible therefore,” it read.

The order, which Arroyo signed on March 16, will take effect immediately.

Congress is investigating the collapse of the Legacy Group, which has stakes in the banking and pre-need industry, and its failure to pay its obligations.