Imelda mum on aide’s NY artwork case

MANILA, Philippines - Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Romualdez Marcos is mum on the case of her former secretary, who is facing criminal charges in New York in connection with expensive artwork that disappeared when the Marcoses abandoned Malacañang in February 1986.

“Is this about New York? I have no comment,” the former first lady told reporters who attended the meeting of the House committee on the United Nations millennium development goals on Wednesday.

She chairs the committee.

Her chief of staff Filodelfo Diaz said the former first lady could not make a statement “because she is not involved in the case.”

Marcos’ former secretary Vilma Bautista, 74, was indicted on Tuesday on charges of conspiracy, tax fraud and offering a false instrument for filing.

Two of her nephews, Chaiyot Jansen Navalaksana and Pongsak Navalaksana, were also charged.

Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Cyrus Vance Jr. said Bautista used false paperwork to sell a work from Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” series for $32 million in September 2010.

“The integrity of the international art market must be protected,” Vance said in a statement. “This indictment sheds light on what happened to major works of art missing for more than 25 years.”

The Monet painting was part of Marcos’ hoard of artworks and other luxuries accumulated during her husband’s rule, which was brought down in 1986.

“A significant amount of artwork and other valuables disappeared from Philippine government property, including from the Philippine consulate townhouse in Manhattan,” the DA’s office said.

Beginning in 2009, Bautista and her two nephews allegedly began trying to sell the Monet and three other valuable works that the Philippine government was trying to repossess. Prosecutors said Bautista and her nephews plotted to sell the paintings and keep the proceeds tax-free.  

More Marcos assets uncovered

Meanwhile, more assets of the Marcoses allegedly hidden by Bautista are being uncovered by the New York DA.

Presidential Commission on Good Government chairman Dean Andres Bautista said that the investigation on Bautista conducted by the NYDA has turned up leads on other assets of the Marcoses.

“It has already provided leads to other properties,” Bautista told The STAR.

The PCGG chief earlier lauded the NYDA for filing charges against Bautista.

“This criminal trial in New York will serve an important pedagogical purpose as it would highlight the point that crime does not pay and eventually the long arm of the law will catch up with you,” Bautista said.

Bautista said the PCGG will closely coordinate with the NYDA in prosecuting the former aide of Marcos, and recovering the assets that belong to the Philippine government.

“Our cooperation with the NYDA’s investigation reflects the Commission’s determination to pursue its mandate for as long as we have such mandate. This also highlights President Aquino’s unrelenting crusade against graft and corruption,” Bautista further said.  – With Rainier Allan Ronda