Greco Antonious Beda Banta Belgica is a Filipino public servant who has been serving as Commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission since 2018. He graduated from San Beda University with a degree on Marketing and Commerce, finished his further education at the University of California in Berkeley for his Post Graduate Studies on International Trade and Commerce. He was elected as City Councilor of Manila in 2004 at the age of 26 and was infamously known as "Batang Magaling". In 2013, he questioned the constitutionality of the Pork Barrel System, a very controversial case that had three prior Supreme Court rulings that said the PDAF were unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Belgica, with a unanimous vote of 14–0, and said that the Pork Barrel System is unconstitutional. This landmark case was later known as the Belgica Ruling. He currently serves as the President of the Truth and Justice Coalition, a non-stock, non-profit non-government organization which envisions a progressive government where corruption is abhorred and public accountability prevails. He is also the Founder and President of the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan, a national political party accredited by the Commission on Elections on October 30, 2018. He ran with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and was endorsed by the latter in the 2016 Philippine Senatorial Election. On January 12, 2018, he was appointed as Commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission under the Office of the President of the Philippines.
Early life
Belgica serves as an elder of the Lord's Vineyard Church and is currently president of the Yeshua Change Agents, a non-government organization involved in anti-drug campaigns and advocating reconstruction of society to its Biblical form. He is also the founder of ReformPH Movement.
Political career
He previously served as councilor of the sixth district of the City of Manila from 2004 to 2007. Bélgica ran as a candidate in the 2013 Philippine Senate election under the newly accredited Democratic Party of the Philippines, but failed to win a seat. One of Belgica's campaign promises was a flat tax system for the Philippines; in particular, a simple, one-time, and one kind tax of not more than 10% only on net income on both individual and business profits. He also espouses belief in a limited and decentralizedform of government, a free market, and Christian fundamentalism. He leads the campaign to convert the PDAF and other discretionary funds of politicians to tuition vouchers for all students and capital for families, individuals and businessmen. He believes that money and resources should be in the hands of people and not with politicians and government. In the 2016 Senate election, he ran again for a senate seat as part of the party supporting Rodrigo Dutertefor President. But again, he failed.
''Belgica v. Ochoa''
In 2013, nine petitions were filed before the Supreme Court of the Philippines regarding the constitutionality of the pork barrel system. One of these petitions were filed by Belgica and his group. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioners, with a unanimous vote of 14-0-1 abstain, and said that pork barrel system is unconstitutional. In its landmark decision G.R. No. 208566 the Supreme Court defined that the pork barrel funds are lump sum discretionary funds appropriated in both the executive and legislative department. It further held, that there two kinds of pork barrel funds. The executive lump sum discretionary funds and the legislative lump sum discretionary fund known as the PDAF. However, in his stint as commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, Belgica stated that Janet Lim-Napoles, believed to have masterminded the PDAF Scam, is not really the 'mastermind', just 'willing beneficiary'.
