For BBM’s info: SC declared Marcos wealth ill-gotten

President Bongbong Marcos claimed that his family’s excessive wealth was not ill-gotten, saying that they’ve won some civil suits. He mentioned this to the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Aug. 14, when asked about the status of his family’s overdue estate tax payments.

“The reason we won those civil cases is because they were proven to be not ill-gotten wealth,” he said. Presidential work has been making him neglect his duties as Marcos estate administrator, he added. He’s leaving everything up to lawyers, so supposedly knows nothing about unpaid dues to the government.

The Supreme Court in 1997 ordered the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. to pay P23-billion estate tax. The ruling became final and executory in 1999.

No payment was made. The tax due has ballooned to P204 billion from penalties, surcharges and interests. Retired SC senior associate justice Antonio Carpio mentioned this during the 2022 presidential campaign.

PNA Photo

The Marcos wealth is illegal. Two SC rulings say so:

• The Presidential Commission on Good Government got Switzerland to release $658 million in secret Swiss bank accounts of Marcos Sr. and first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. The SC in 2003 forfeited the money in favor of the government. It ruled that the Marcos couple’s legal income from 1965 to 1985 was roughly $304,372. Anything vastly above that amount was ill-gotten.

• Also forfeited for the government in 2012 was $40 million from Arelma Corp. The front company was founded as Arelma S.A. in Panama. Marcos used the alias William Saunders to open a Swiss bank account on March 20, 1968, his third year as president. The next day Imelda opened her own account under alias Jane Ryan. Arelma’s initial $2 million grew to $40 million by the 2010s.

PCGG filed other forfeiture cases for real estate properties discovered in the Philippines. The Office of the Solicitor General prosecuted the cases. Some were dismissed due to procedural shortcomings and insufficient evidence.

The biggest loss was in 2023. The SC affirmed the Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of a P1.05-billion civil forfeiture case involving Imelda and associates. PCGG failed to prove its case by preponderance of evidence.

The SC considered Imelda’s jewelry as part of unlawful holdings because in excess of her income as human settlements minister and Metro Manila governor in 1976-1986. Three sets were confiscated, now kept at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas:

• Left behind when they fled Malacañang in February 1986 were 400 pieces of gems valued in 2017 at $110,055 to $153,089. Those were well-set semi-precious stones made into belts, brooches and earrings; white diamonds in gold tiaras; pink diamonds in gold bracelets and diamond in gold buckle. Those were found among 15 mink coats, 508 couture gowns, 888 handbags and 3,000 pairs of designer shoes.

• Of greater value was the collection Imelda attempted to bring along to Hawaii exile. US Customs took a month to document the $5 million-$10 million hoard. In 1991 Imelda surrendered the “Hawaii collection” in exchange for the dropping of certain lawsuits.

• A third collection was seized from Imelda’s Greek hairdresser Demetriou Roumeliotes who attempted to sneak it out of the Manila airport in March 1986. Consisting of only 60 pieces, it was deemed the most valuable at $3.8 million to $5.3 million. Part of the “Roumeliotes collection” is a diamond-studded bracelet with a 31-carat centerpiece.

Imelda allegedly bought paintings and other artwork, including European masterpieces, each worth millions of dollars. Victims of martial law filed for confiscation by the New York Supreme Court of 206 items. This was for partial fulfillment of their $2-billion award by the Honolulu court in 1995.

Those included paintings by Bacon, Cezanne, Degas, El Greco, Filippo Lippi, Gauguin, Goya, Latour, Manet, Matisse, Monet, Picasso, Raphael, Renoir, Tiepolo, Van Gogh.

In 2010 Imelda’s secretary Vilma Bautista illegally sold from the collection Claude Monet’s 1899 painting “Water Lilies” to a London gallery. Price: $32 million to pay off personal debts. It was without Imelda’s consent. Convicted in New York of conspiracy and tax fraud, Bautista was sentenced in January 2014 to two to six years in prison. The Swiss buyer avoided litigation by paying $10 million more to the Marcos victims.

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