Imelda set to file charges of human rights violations against the PCGG

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos will file a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) this week against Presidential Commission on Good Government Chairman Magtanggol Gunigundo and other PCGG officials during the administrations of former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos and President Estrada for violating the human rights of the Marcos family.

A close aide of Mrs. Marcos who requested anonimity said that Mrs. Marcos would submit hundreds of documents to support her claim that the Marcoses’ rights were violated by the PCGG.

CHR public affairs office (PAO) staff Tetchie Mercado has confirmed to The STAR that Mrs. Marcos was originally scheduled to submit her voluminous evidence to CHR chairperson Aurora Navarette-Recina, at 9 a.m. yesterday.

However, this was reset to Oct. 12 for an unknown reason.

"The submission by Mrs. Marcos of her voluminous evidence of human rights violations allegedly committed by the PCGG officials against her family was re-scheduled to Thursday (Oct. 12). We were not informed of the reasons for the re-scheduling," Mercado said.

Among the human rights violations allegedly committed by PCGG officials against the Marcoses, as cited by Mrs. Marcos, was the summary judgment recently issued by the Sandiganbayan first division chaired by Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena. The judgment declared that the $628-million Swiss money held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank (PNB) is government property citing that the money was "deemed unlawfully acquired or ill-gotten."

Mrs. Marcos, and her two children, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda "Imee" Marcos and Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., contested the anti-graft court’s ruling, claiming that they were not given "due process" of law.

The source said that aside from this, the Marcoses also maintained that they did not willingly go in exile to Hawaii at the height of the non-violent and non-bloody EDSA People Power revolt in 1986.

The Marcoses also questioned the legality of Executive Order No. 1 issued on Feb. 25, 1986, the law which created the PCGG, by then "self-proclaimed President Corazon Aquino even though the 1973 Constitution was still in effect."

"EO No. 1, the Marcoses believed, has declared the Marcoses (especially the late dictator) of stealing billions of dollars worth of properties. The same EO then declared all their properties stolen without any trial," the source said.

The 9,539 human rights victims had won a class suit in a US court which ordered the Marcoses to pay them more than $2 billion after finding them guilty of committing human rights violations against anti-Marcos Filipinos.

The victims tried to get compensation from the Marcoses by entering into a $150-million settlement with the Marcoses, but this was junked by the Sandiganbayan.

"The Marcoses did not go into exile in Hawaii in 1986. They were kidnapped. They are also contemplating to file kidnapping charges before the International Court of Justice," the source said. – Jose Rodel Clapano