Marcos Wealth, 20 years later: Far too long, too little recovered

By Karen Tiongson-Mayrina, GMA News Research “A closure" is what the Arroyo administration avowedly wants; hence its fresh go-signal for the Presidential Commission on Good Government to revive settlement talks with the family of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, on the matter of the Marcos wealth. Over the last 20 years, government’s record in running after the Marcoses and their cronies is at best shoddy, at worst shady, and the results spotty and sparse. By all indications, the effort to crack down on the Marcoses has not quite started vigorously, but President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo now begs for “a closure." On April 25, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said: "At some point, we have to settle, we have to have a closure on this issue. I don't think we can let this issue fester us for another 25 years." In power for 21 years, Marcos and his cronies are believed to have acquired an enormous hoard of ill-gotten wealth, valued variably from $5 billion to $10 billion. Over the last 20 years, in various courts at home and overseas, four Philippine presidents after him have sought to recover that wealth, variably for human rights victims, agrarian reform and other beneficiaries. For far too long, however, the effort has yielded far too little results. Not one Marcos family member or crony has seen time in jail for alleged plunder. Only 10 percent of the total stash of cash and assets that the Marcoses supposedly fleeced from the nation’s coffers had been recovered. Ten PCGG chairpersons in succession over the last 20 years have retrieved only P60.75 billion, or just $1.2 billion, from 1986 to 2005. Malacanang’s green light for the PCGG to forge a compromise deal with the Marcoses does not sit well with the PCGG’s first chairperson, former senate president, Jovito Salonga. In a recent letter, Salonga asked President Arroyo to stop the PCGG from securing a settlement of cases filed against the Marcoses with the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court. PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede said the government and former first lady Imelda Marcos had begun settlement talks. This after she asked that as “a condition" for settlement, she wants proceeds from the sale of the seized Marcos assets be given to a charitable foundation of her choice. How much has been recovered? On parallel track, the PCGG has also resumed settlement talks with Marcos crony Eduardo “Danding" Cojuangco Jr. on the coconut levy issue. A settlement with Coajuangco, Salonga said, would have "shameful implications" for coconut farmers who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the coconut fund. Under Executive Order No. 1 enacted by then President Corazon Aquino, the PCGG has mandate to recover the alleged ill-gotten of the Marcoses and their cronies. As of 2005, the PCGG has recovered a total of P60.8 billion, the bulk coming from the escrow account. (See table) As of last year, around P57.4 billion has been remitted to the CARP. No compassion for human rights victims In the week commemorating her husband’s ouster, Imelda Marcos turned up on February 22 at the landslide area in Brgy. Guinsaugon, Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte to help her distressed province mates. Clad in black slacks and a Filipiniana-inspired black top with blue prints on the shoulder, the flamboyant former First Lady said she came to Guinsaugon to sympathize with the victims. She said she postponed her medical trip in Hong Kong because her own problem is “nothing compared with the people’s problem." While Imelda displayed her own brand of compassion for the landslide victims, she would not express any remorse to the almost 10,000 victims of human rights violations committed under her husband’s regime, nor for amassing billions of pesos in ill-gotten wealth. Her lawyers continue to oppose moves of the claimants to enforce the 1995 final judgment of the United States District Court of Hawaii awarding the claimants with more than $2 billion in damages against the Marcos estate. “Marami sa amin ang namatay na dahil sa katagalan ng kaso, maraming matanda na, maraming mahina na hanggang ngayon naghahangad pa rin ng katarungan," said Rudy del Rosario, a political detainee during martial law. The never ending saga of the claimants is just one of hundreds of pending cases originating from the Marcos regime. A tab on the cases The Presidential Commission on Good Government, the special body created by President Corazon Aquino soon after she took office, has handled hundreds of cases seeking to recover ill-gotten wealth accumulated during the Marcos regime and to prosecute corrupt acts relating to those. The PCGG’s 35 lawyers are battling it out in court with big-time lawyers, including former solicitor general Estelito Mendoza, maintained by the Marcoses and their cronies. Guess who’s winning so far. Since 1987, the PCCG has filed 72 civil cases for recovery and damages, 76 criminal cases (including graft, malversation and dollar salting) and 68 behest loan cases against Marcos, his family and cronies. (See table) From these cases sprang 578 more now pending at the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the Office of the Ombudsman. Among the 39 banner cases filed at the Sandiganbayan in 1987, only Civil Case No. 0001 is considered resolved. This case for “reconveyance, restitution, accounting and damages" sought to recover the Marcoses’ real-estate properties in New York; the PCGG said the properties had been sold in a public auction and the Philippines given its share of the proceeds. Civil Case Nos. 0002 to 0039 are pending. These cases seek to recover P222 billion in illegally acquired wealth. Among these are the coco levy cases, estimated to be worth P100 billion, involving crony Eduardo “Danding" Cojuangco. Civil Case No. 0002 against Mrs. Marcos is for the alleged ill-gotten acquisition of P200.25 billion. The case covers real-estate properties in the United States and in Leyte, Security Bank deposits worth P976 million, Traders Royal Bank deposits worth P711 million, foreign bank deposits of $292 million, 2.4 million shares in the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co. valued at P1.6 billion in 1988 and various other stockholdings, $98 million in investments, paintings by European masters, jewelry, antiques, perfumes and wardrobes. The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division issued a resolution on December 6, 2005 clearing from Civil Case No. 0002 for lack of sufficient evidence Marcos children Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos, Gov. Ferdinand “Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Irene Marcos-Araneta and her husband Greggy Araneta, and businessmen Yeung Chun Kam, Yeung Chun Fan and Yeung Chun Ho. Commissioner Conti pointed out that the PCGG is just one part of the litigation process. “Karamihan ng aming mga asunto ngayon ay nasa husgado at yung husgado ay hindi kayang kontrolin ng PCGG," he said. Since these cases stem from illegal acts committed more than 20 years ago, some of the respondents cannot be located and summonses thus cannot be served. Some of the accused are now out of the country. There are no more witnesses. Some documents are mere photocopies and thus cannot be presented in court as evidence. And there are always the topnotch lawyers of the accused and their dilatory tactics. Still, there are victories, Conti said. The Supreme Court decision in July 2003 forfeited in favor of the Philippine government the Marcos family’s $683 million (P35 billion) Swiss deposits. “Ito ang pinakamalaking recovery hindi lang sa Pilipinas kundi sa ibang bansa," Conti said. The ruling became final in November 2003. The PCGG remitted the P35.04 billion to the Bureau of Treasury for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in February 2004. Under Republic Act 6657 or the Agrarian Reform Law, CARP is the designated beneficiary of all the proceeds from recovered ill-gotten wealth. A pending bill in Congress seeks to transfer a portion of the forfeited amount to the victims of human rights violations during martial law. In January this year, the Supreme Court declared ill-gotten a large block of shares of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. that is being contested by the government and the families of the late businessman Ramon Cojuangco, Chinese-Filipino tycoon Alfonso Yuchengco and Ferdinand Marcos. The Supreme Court ruled that the government is the rightful owner of 111,415 shares of Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp. (PITC) registered under the name of Prime Holdings Inc. PTIC was the biggest stockholder of PLDT, owning 28 percent of the company, at the time Civil Case No. 0002 was filed. The Cojuangco family owns the controlling stake in Prime Holdings, making it the single biggest stockholder of PLDT at the time. The block of PTIC shares, constituting about 6.4 percent of PLDT, is now worth about P21 billion. In November 2005, the Supreme Court upheld the Sandiganbayan’s decision to declare ill-gotten the Marcos spouses shares in the Bulletin Publishing Corp. in the names of Eduardo “Danding" Cojuangco Jr. and Jose Campos and Cesar Zalamea. The Court also affirmed the Sandiganbayan ruling that the Bulletin shares sold by the late Hans Menzi to U.S. Automotive Co. Inc., in the names of Emilio Yap and of the Estate of Hans Menzi as not ill-gotten. (See table) Both PLDT and Bulletin cases remain pending as the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the motions for reconsideration filed by the cronies’ lawyers. “May pag-asa pa. Ang Komisyon ay patuloy sa pagli-litigate ng mga kaso nang sa ganun ay mahanap itong mga ari-arian na ito," Conti said. Conti said the PCGG expects to recover an estimated P300 billion from local and foreign cases, and behest loan cases and privatized assets. (See table) The PCGG has no idea how much ill-gotten wealth there really is. But Jovito Salonga, the first chair of the PCGG, placed the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses at $5 billion to $10 billion (P510 billion at P51=$1). But it could be bigger. “Walang hawak na written report ang Komisyon para yan ay estimahin sapagkat hanggang sa kasalukuyan ay hinahanap pa nga natin kung nasasaan ang sinasabing ill-gotten wealth na nakamal noong panahon ng rehimeng Marcos," Conti said. Nora Oliveros, a director of the Department of Budget and Management, said during the Senate hearing on the DBM budget in January that the P27 billion for CARP drawn from the P35 billion—which PCGG remitted only in 2004--is now “practically gone." The victims of summary executions, involuntary disappearances and torture have yet to receive a cent. Up to now, Congress has yet to pass the enabling law that will provide for the long-overdue compensation of the human rights victims. The United States District Court in Hawaii ruled in favor of the victims’ class suit in 1995. Judge Manuel Real issued a final judgment awarding the victims $2 billion. This was affirmed by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1996. In May 1997, the victims filed a complaint with the Makati City Regional Trial Court for the enforcement of the US judgment. Makati RTC Judge Santiago Rañada dismissed the complaint for nonpayment of the correct docket fees, prompting the victims to elevate the case to the Supreme Court. In 2005, the Supreme Court, granting their petition, nullified the RTC ruling. Staying power The Marcoses, as expected, won’t easily accept defeat. Their appeal is pending with the Supreme Court. “The fact is there is already a vindication. The judgment itself finding the Marcoses guilty of gross violation of human rights is already a political and moral victory and vindication for the victims of human rights violations," lawyer Romeo Capulong of Selda said. “But while that is more important to us than mere compensation… To be candid, the victims need money. They are entitled to this. No decision is complete without compensation or indemnification," he added. As the PCGG continues to search, the Marcoses and their cronies go on hiding their ill-gotten wealth, Capulong said. “Between then and now, marami nang na-abscond na properties, marami nang naitago ang Marcoses and cronies," Capulong said. Indeed, Imelda continues to party; two of her children are in power; younger brother Alfredo “Bejo" Romualdez is Tacloban City mayor. Last year, Imelda’s other brother, former Leyte governor and ambassador Benjamin “Kokoy" Romualdez, was reported to be trying to seize control of Equitable PCI Bank. Cojuangco is chairman and chief executive officer of San Miguel Corp., Southeast Asia’s biggest food and beverage conglomerate. Forbes magazine recently ranked crony Lucio Tan as the 451st richest man in the world According to a New York Times report crony Herminio Disini “now lives in a castle near Vienna." He is facing, among others, graft charges for allegedly receiving $18 million in bribes in exchange for using his influence with Marcos to win contracts for the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan. Marcos and his other cronies like Fabian Ver and Roberto Benedicto took their secrets to their graves. Alas, 20 years after they were overthrown, the Marcoses and their cronies are still free and unrepentant, unscathed by the legal system. (With Richelle Joyce Figueroa) GMANews.Tv