Former Senator Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos. Screengrab from Pandesal Forum
MANILA, Philippines — Aspiring president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said he will obey whatever the courts will decide on pending cases about the Marcos family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.
Marcos Jr., however, claimed in an interview over DZRH on Tuesday that the cases no longer involve his family but the Philippine government.
“Sa pamilyang Marcos ay hindi na kami involved sa mga kasong ‘yan,” he answered when asked about what he will do with the ill gotten wealth cases should he become president. “If you will look at the judgments, may mga judgment na kontra sa amin pero nasa America ‘yun. At ang kanilang sinasabi ang dapat sumagot ay ang Philippine government.”
(The Marcos family is no longer involved in those cases. If you will look at the judgments, there are judgments that are against us but that’s in the US. And what they are saying is the Philippine government should answer.)
“Pabayaan natin, may batas naman, pabayaan natin na lumakad ang batas kung saan man, kung ano man ang magiging desisyon ng mga korte. Nandyan naman ang mga batas, kung ano ang decision, kung ano ang order ng court, ay susundan natin. Pabayaan natin ang batas ang umiral dito sa mga kasong ito,” he added.
(Let’s just let it be, there are laws. Let the law prevail whatever the courts decide. The law is there. Whatever the decision or order of the court, we will follow it. Let us allow the law to prevail in these cases.)
The Marcoses are accused of amassing billions of ill-gotten wealth during their reign, and the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) was created precisely to recover assets from the Marcos family and the ousted dictator’s cronies.
So far, the agency has recovered P172.4 billion.
The PCGG is still trying to recover P125 billion more which is still under litigation.
READ: Robredo vows to recover Marcos ill-gotten wealth if elected president
READ: Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth, martial law abuses are legitimate election issues
Former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio has said that the P328 billion worth of ill-gotten wealth and unpaid taxes of the Marcos family may no longer be recovered if Marcos Jr. gets elected as president.