Imee Marcos: No deal yet on return of wealth

Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Imee Marcos on Thursday broke her family’s silence on the 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,” the Ilocos Norte governor said in a doorstop interview at the House of Representatives.

“Wala pa, wala pa (nothing yet),” Marcos said when asked whether negotiations were ongoing 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, as purportedly told by her mother, Imelda, to Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, who cited a conversation with the former First Lady several years ago.

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

On Tuesday, 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.

As of 2016, the Presidential Commission on Good Government had recovered some P170 billion in ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses and their cronies. These included Swiss bank deposits, shares of stock, real estate property, paintings and jewelry. CBB