Government looking into alleged undeclared Marcos-owned lands in US

The government is investigating whether the Marcos family owns huge tracts of land in Texas and Colorado, which Marcos associate Jose Yao Campos was able to shield from sequestration.

Narciso Nario, Presidential Commission on Good Government officer-in-charge, said Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera led a PCGG-Office of the Solicitor General team to check promising leads on the possible existence of Marcos properties in these two states when they went to the United States to look into the status of the $37-million Arelma account in the New York stock brokerage firm Merrill Lynch.

“From what they learned, they have recommended that we retain lawyers there to follow up on it,” he said.

Nario said that the tracts of land, a big portion of which are in Texas, could even include properties that are oil-rich.

“It’s very promising,” he said.

Campos, founder of the giant United Laboratories, had entered into a compromise agreement with the PCGG in 1986 to escape criminal prosecution.

He surrendered to the government companies that hold majority shares in the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and the Independent Realty Corp. that has as one of its subsidiaries the Mid Pasig Land Development Corp. that owns the 18-hectare Payanig sa Pasig.

IRC also owns a building along EDSA in front of the SM Megamall which currently serves as the PCGG head office.

Campos told the PCGG he held these properties in trust for President Marcos.

The compromise agreement averted the confiscation of Unilab and the Greenfields real estate firm of Campos.