PCGG prepares to auction Imelda jewelry

MANILA, Philippines - With a new chief at the helm, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) this year made sure the public would never forget the lavish lifestyle and excesses of the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

In November, the PCGG, along with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Office of the President, reopened the high security vault of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to retrieve and prepare for auctioning three jewelry collections of former first lady Imelda Marcos.

Rival auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s held a weeklong appraisal of the collections, composed of over 760 pieces of jewelry and other luxury items confiscated by the government following the EDSA People Power revolt in 1986.

Initially valued in 1991 at around $6 million to $8 million, the total worth of the collections – which also include designer bags and wristwatches – is expected to significantly increase due to the inclusion of previously overlooked jewels and higher valuation of the jewelry. Final valuation has yet to be announced.

Discovered during the appraisal, which was opened to the media on two separate occasions, was a rare 25-carat, briolette-cut pink diamond that may have been owned by a mogul emperor.

Appraisers, which noted the rarity of pink diamonds, initially valued it at $5 million. The jewel was previously overlooked as it was only identified as one of the “loose jewels” in the so-called Hawaii Collection.

Under the custody of PCGG, the Hawaii Collection is composed of around 300 pieces of jewelry seized from the Marcoses by the US Customs in 1986.

The Roumeliotes Collection, composed of only around 60 pieces of jewelry but is deemed as the most valuable among the three, was seized from alleged Marcos associate Demetriou Roumeliotes as he tried to smuggle it out of the country.

It was later forfeited in favor of the BOC as the attempt to smuggle the jewelry was a violation of the Tariff and Customs Code.

Also being assessed of its value is the Malacañang Collection composed of over 400 pieces of luxury jewelry and other items left at Malacañang after the People Power uprising.

The Sandiganbayan declared in 2014 that the collection was part of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses. The ruling is currently being appealed by the former first lady before the Supreme Court.

“This will significantly open the way for determining a final resolution on the said assets, including the possible auction of the same,” PCGG chairman Richard Amurao said, referring to the appraisal process.

An online petition, however, is asking the PCGG not to auction the jewelry pieces and instead just have them displayed at the National Museum.

Lost paintings

The PCGG announced plans to seek public support for its search for missing works of masters that were reportedly part of the vast art collection of the Marcos family.

Based on the Missing Art Movement website, http://missingart.ph, the missing paintings bought by the Marcoses allegedly using people’s money were those by Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Monet and Michelangelo.

In 2014, the Sandiganbayan issued a writ of attachment ordering the confiscation of some 140 paintings from the Marcoses.

Included in the list of paintings were masterpieces such as the “LaBaignade Au Grand Temps” by Pierre Bonnard, “Madonna and Child” by Michelangelo Buonarroti, “Vase of Red Chrysanthemums” by Bernard Buffet, “Still Life with Idol” by Paul Gauguin, “Portrait of the Marqueza de Sta. Cruz” by Francisco de Goya, “L’Aube” by Joan Miro, “Femme Couche VI (Reclining Woman VI)” by Pablo Picasso and “Jardin de Kew pres de la Serre 1892” by Camille Pissarro.

The National Bureau of Investigation recovered five minor artworks in a raid, but none of the masterpieces.

Replicas recovered from the Marcoses included three copies of the Madonna and Child, 11 works by Paule Gobillard and a Picasso Replica Bass strokes.

PCGG commissioner Andrew de Castro said the website was part of the PCGG’s efforts to involve the public in the search for the missing artworks.

New leadership

Richard Roger Amurao and De Castro are among the new appointees of President Aquino to the PCGG, the agency created in 1986 to run after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.

In May, Aquino appointed then PCGG chairman Andres Bautista to head the Commission on Elections.

Amurao, then a commissioner, took over the top PCGG post in an acting capacity.

An Ateneo Law and London School of Economics graduate, Amurao was consultant of the Asian Development Bank’s Governance in Justice Sector Reform Program prior to his appointment to the PCGG.

Former commission secretary Ronald Chua and De Castro were later appointed commissioners, joining Vicente Gengos.

Earlier this year, the PCGG also tried to auction off the 18.5-hectare Payanig sa Pasig property, which is being claimed by a firm owned by a nephew of former Ilocos Sur congressman Chavit Singson.

The PCGG in July declared a failed bidding of the property after only one interested bidder – Robinsons Land – turned up on bidding day.

The agency said it would study options allowed under privatization rules such as negotiated sale or rebidding. The property has an initial bid price of P16.45 billion.

In its statement, the PCGG said there had been numerous attempts to stop the bidding, including “threats” to members of the commission.

Lawyer Dennis Manalo, representing BLEMP Commercial Philippines headed by Richard Singson, said the agency only has itself to blame for the failed bidding.

BLEMP said it holds the original titles to the property and is in actual possession of it since acquiring it from Mid-Pasig Land Development Corp. in the 1970s.

But the PCGG maintained that the disputed land is owned by the government as it was surrendered by alleged Marcos associate Jose Yao Campos to the commission in 1986.

BLEMP filed a graft case against members of the Privatization Council and former and current officials of the PCGG in connection with the issue.

Also this year, the PCGG finished its full accounting and inventory of all known coco levy assets and estimated them to be at P93 billion.

Of the P93 billion, PCGG said there was cash redemption value of P74 billion already declared as public funds that should be exclusively used by the coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry.