MANILA, Philippines — A total of P99.6 billion worth of Marcos assets which were allegedly part of the family’s “ill-gotten wealth” are still under litigation, a lawmaker disclosed Tuesday.
During the House plenary debates on the proposed 2021 budget, Bulacan 1st District Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, who was defending the funding proposal of the Department of Justice (DOJ), was asked to provide an update on the country’s hunt for the Marcoses’ alleged ill-gotten wealth.
“Ang total value ng pinaglalabanan pa o ang total value of assets under litigation ay kulang P100 billion o P99.6 billion. Mayroon pang inaasikasong 88 cases ang PCGG (Presidential Commission on Good Government),” Sy-Alvarado said.
(The total value of assets under litigation is slightly below P100 billion or P99.6 billion. There are 88 cases being handled by the PCGG.)
“Kasama na nito ang mga Marcos jewelry collections na nagkakahalaga ng P1.8 billion,” the lawmaker added.
(This includes Marcos jewelry collections amounting to P1.8 billion.)
Sy-Alvarado said due process should be followed in the cases for the sake of fairness.
“Kaya ko nasabing patas sapagkat karapatan din naman ng pamilyang Marcos na malinis ang kanilang pangalan sakali na hindi naman totoo na itong mga bagay ito ay kanilang ninakaw,” Sy-Alvarado said.
(I said fairness because the Marcos family also has the right to clean their name in case it is not true that these assets were not ill-gotten.)
“At sakali naman na mapatunayan na ito ay parte ng ill-gotten wealth, sana naman ay mai-distribute kaagad o maibigay kaagad sa gobyerno upang ang kulang P100-bilyon na hinahabol na yaman ay magamit ng pamahalaan lalong-lalo na sa mga programang pangmahirap upang maitaas ang antas ng pamumuhay ng ating mga kababayan,” the lawmaker added.
(And in case it was proven that these are part of ill-gotten wealth, then we hope that these can be given to the government so that we can use that amount for programs for the poor and to improve the lives of our countrymen.)
But for Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, while he agrees that due process has to be followed, it has taken so long that “there is already a violation of due process not only for the government, but for the people and also even for the victims of human rights violations.”
Zarate also hit the “revisionist narratives” surrounding the Marcoses.
“Umabot sa punto na may kumakalat na mga revisionist narratives na walang ginawang kasalanan ang diktador na si Marcos at ang pamilya nya at kanyang mga crony na walang nakaw na yaman, na walang human rights violations sa panahon ng diktadura,” Zarate said.
(It has reached the point that there are now revisionist narratives that the Marcos family and cronies are not at fault, that there were no ill-gotten wealth, that there were no human rights violations during the dictatorship.)
“Hindi totoo yan dahil tayo mismo sa Kongreso at sa ilang mga desisyon ng Korte Suprema, it was already affirmed that there were human rights violations, there were ill-gotten wealth, there is still ill-gotten wealth that has to be recovered,” he added.
(It is not true because here in Congress and in some decisions of the Supreme Court, it was already affirmed that there were human rights violations, there was ill-gotten wealth, there is still ill-gotten wealth that has to be recovered.)
Zarate also pointed out that Congress passed the Marcos’ Victims Compensation Law, allowing human rights victims during the Marcos regime to receive compensation from the retrieved wealth.