Robredo: Offer to return Marcos wealth could be ploy to avoid ‘legal repercussions’

In this photo, taken on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, Vice President Leni Robredo (right) chats with 29-year-old Gerly Quirao one of the beneficiaries of her Angat Buhay anti-poverty program in Maricaban, Pasay City. On the sidelines of her visit, she talked to reporters about the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family. (Photo from the Office of the Vice President)

Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday said the Marcos family could only be offering to return part of their ill-gotten wealth to dodge the “legal repercussions” of stealing from the country, as she rejected the idea to grant the heirs of former President Ferdinand Marcos immunity without them admitting to their crimes.

“Iyong sa akin kasi, bago pag-usapan iyong immunity, dapat may pag-amin muna ng kasalanan. Mahirap magpatawad sa isang tao na hindi naman inaamin iyong kasalanan,” Robredo told reporters on the sidelines of her visit to Maricaban, Pasay City as part of her Angat Buhay-Metro Laylayan advocacy for the poor.

(“Before we talk about immunity, there should be admission first of their offense. It is difficult to forgive someone if he doesn’t admit to the offense.”)

Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that the Marcoses were willing to return their questionable wealth, including a few gold bars, to the government.

The President’s statement caught everyone by surprise because government had been going after the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), which was created by the 1987 Constitution.

Robredo said it should always be remembered how much the Marcoses stole from the Filipino people.

“The Marcoses gave the people a difficult time in pursuing the cases against them,” she said. “It was not easy to file cases. If we look back on history, it has been 31 years since we file cases but only half have been recovered by government and returned to the people. There is still the other half that have yet to be recovered.”

The Marcoses were said to have amassed some $5 billion to $10 billion in the 21-year rule of Ferdinand Marcos.

The PCGG has recovered some $3 billion in the last 30 years. /atm

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