Reversal of ruling on $628 M sought

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos and two of her children asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday to reconsider its decision declaring as government property the $628-million Swiss account held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank (PNB).

In a 26-page motion for reconsideration filed before the Sandiganbayan’s First Division chaired by Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena, Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos said the anti-graft court "grievously erred in ruling that the go-vernment has established a prima facie case for the forfeiture of the Swiss funds."

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Catalino Castañeda and issued last Sept. 19, the Sandiganbayan ruled that the Swiss deposits, which originally amounted to $456 million, "are deemed unlawfully acquired or ill-gotten wealth," as it ordered the forfeiture of the amount in favor of the government.

The Marcos children, through their legal counsel Maria Jeanette Tecson, argued that the government, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), failed to establish the approximate amount of the property the conjugal dictatorship had acquired during the couple’s incumbency... "and a description of said property."

They maintained that the establishment of these facts are needed to convict under the law on ill-gotten wealth.

"Despite warning from the court itself that plaintiff (government) has to prove the total amount of the Swiss funds as of 25 February 1986, the Marcoses’ last day in office, plaintiff has made a categorical admission that it does not have such proof," the two Marcos children said in their motion for reconsideration.

They added that the government prosecutors also failed to state how much of the Swiss funds have possibly been acquired legitimately by the Marcos couple after their incumbency.

Mrs. Marcos has maintained that the Marcoses had not acquired ill-gotten wealth during her husband’s more than 20 years in power.

"If it is ill-gotten, where did it come from? Where did we take it from?" she asked.

Court records showed that the Marcoses admitted that the late president had received a salary of only P60,000 a year from 1966 to 1976; P100,000 a year from 1977 to 1984, and P110,000 for 1985. The total for the 20-year period is P1.57 million.

As minister of human settlements, Mrs. Marcos received a total of P718,750 from June 1976 to 1985.

The Sandiganbayan also said that from January to February 1986, the couple was authorized to receive a total of P30,833,33.