Gov’t gets $683 million in Marcos wealth

The $683-million Marcos Swiss funds held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank (PNB) are already in government hands, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman Haydee Yorac announced yesterday.

She assured the people and human rights claimants that any effort by US District Court Judge Manuel Real to go after the PNB for releasing the money to the government will not be a problem.

"It’s up to the PNB. I don’t want to preempt their lawyers," Yorac told a press briefing the other day, saying it will be up to the bank to deal with Real.

"I don’t know what they are planning to do. Suffice it to say the money is now with the government. I think part of it has (already) been given to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for the support program," she added.

In February 1995, Real ordered the PNB to "show cause" or explain why it should not be held in contempt for violating the worldwide injunction the Hawaii District Court issued on all assets of the estate of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

On Thursday last week, Real again ordered the PNB to explain whether it has transferred the Marcos assets to the Republic of the Philippines, asked for all documents pertaining to the transfer and a detailed inventory of all other assets currently in PNB custody which are claimed by the Marcos estate.

Real’s new order came after US lawyers Robert Swift and Sherry Broder filed a motion to show cause against the PNB for violating the 1995 injunction seeking to stop the transfer of assets belonging to the Marcos estate.

In their motion, Swift and Broder said the transfer of the Marcos money from its escrow account in PNB to the Republic of the Philippines violated the global injunction issued by Real.

"The (1995) judgment... permanently enjoined and restrained the Estate, its agents, representatives, aiders and abettors from transferring, conveying or otherwise disposing of property and assets owned actually, equitably, or beneficially on behalf of the Estate until such time as plaintiff’s judgment has been satisfied," the motion said.

"The judgment has not been satisfied," it added.

Under Philippine laws, all ill-gotten wealth recovered from the Marcoses should go to the funding of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. The Supreme Court ruled in July last year that the $683-million Marcos Swiss deposits are ill-gotten and should be forfeited in favor of the government.

However, the government has expressed its willingness to give part of the confiscated $683 million to the compensation of Marcos’ human rights victims but has pointed out that a law must first be passed by Congress for this purpose.

The government is currently in the last stages of having the $683 million transferred in its name.