No agreement yet on Marcos wealth

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos on Thursday broke her family’s silence on their supposed offer to return part of their wealth, saying she believed President Duterte “could end” the decades-long litigation for billions of pesos in ill-gotten gains during the dictatorship.

“We trust that the President can end the decades-long case, and our family is still discussing it, but it’s in the hands of our lawyers,” she said in an interview at the House of Representatives.

“Wala pa, wala pa (nothing yet),” Marcos said when asked whether negotiations were in progress for the return of part of the Marcos wealth.

But the governor denied knowledge of the purported 7,000 tons of gold supposedly kept by the family in deposits all over the world, per the recollection of Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, who cited a private conversation with former First Lady Imelda Marcos, when he was Manila mayor several years ago.

“I don’t know. I think it’s best that the lawyer respond to all these queries,” Marcos said.

On Tuesday, Mr. Duterte claimed that a Marcos spokesperson, whom he did not identify, agreed “to open everything and probably return what has been discovered.”

The President revealed that the Marcos heirs expressed openness to returning part of their wealth, including “a few gold bars,” to help the government manage the budget deficit.

A total of P170 billion in ill-gotten wealth has been recovered as of 2016 by the Presidential Commission on Good Government from the Marcoses and their cronies, including Swiss bank deposits, shares of stock, real estate properties, paintings and jewelry.