The conviction of former First Lady and incumbent Ilocos Norte 2nd District Rep. Imelda Romualdez Marcos proves that corruption happened during the Marcos regime in the country, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel ‘Chel’ Diokno said on Monday.
“The Marcoses have long been trying to rewrite the history, they’ve been trying to say that their regime was all nice and wonderful,” he said in an interview with ABS CBN News Channel.
“But this conviction really shows that there was a lot of anomalies that took place during that time,” he added.
Marcos was found guilty of graft and corruption and was sentenced to imprisonment of up to 11 years of imprisonment for each seven counts of graft.
The decision of the Sandiganbayan came 27 years after the several charges were filed against her.
READ: Imelda Marcos guilty of graft, ordered arrested
According to Sandiganbayan, Marcos was found guilty in seven of the 10 graft cases filed against her from 1991 to 1995 in connection with Swiss foundations she and her husband, former President and dictator Ferdinand Marcos, established.
This, according to Diokno, proves that the Marcos family were involved in corruption. “Not just a little money, this shows that there was corruption of hundreds and millions of dollars,” he said.
The court was not convinced on the claim of Marcos that the Swiss foundations, where around $200 million were funnelled by the Marcoses have been used for charities and not for business.
In its 70-page ruling, the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division said: “Though named as a ‘foundation,’ the evidence shows that these entities were put up primarily for the entrepreneurial activity of opening bank accounts and deposits, transferring funds, earning interests and even profit from the investment, for the private benefit of the Marcos family as beneficiaries.” /je
READ: Sandiganbayan: Swiss ‘foundations’ set up to benefit Marcos family