MANUEL Gaite started work as a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday after 23 years in Malacañang, where he was deputy executive secretary before his new posting.

He spent his first day attending the weekly en banc meeting in the morning and an executive session in the afternoon, where the topic was the Legacy mess.

“It is not a good time to come in because of the Legacy thing, but there is a job that needs to be done, so I guess I have to do it,” said Gaite, 54, a lawyer.

The failed Legacy Group is accused of swindling the public through a pyramiding scheme, and it faces several criminal charges filed by depositors, plan holders and investors in the banks and pre-need companies under it. The SEC and the Bangko Sentral have similarly filed charges against it.

Gaite sat the farthest from and left of SEC chairman Fe Barin, as tradition required.

He said he was looking forward to working at the SEC despite the cloud surrounding it as a result of the Legacy mess.

Lawmakers have been asking why the Legacy Group’s pre-need firms were licensed and allowed to sell pre-need plans despite their financial problems.

Gaite replaced Commissioner Jesus Martinez, who faces possible administrative and criminal charges for allegedly receiving at least P4.67 million to go easy on the Legacy Group.

“I have been in Malacañang, which they call a snake pit, so I think I can handle the job,” he said.

“You just have to do your job.” Jenniffer B. Austria