This column was told by my birdies from Ilocos that one of the missions of BBM in running for president is to redeem the Marcos name and reputation, which was seriously tainted by martial law records, by the EDSA revolt, and by multiple convictions of Marcos family members in various cases filed against them. A Supreme Court reversal of such conviction is a success in his mission.
The Supreme Court acquitted former first lady Imelda Marcos of seven counts of graft in September 2026, overturning her 2018 Sandiganbayan conviction. The former first lady is now 97 years old, and like Juan Ponce Enrile who got acquitted before he died, the wife of the late dictator and mother of the president has been given a tremendous favor by destiny to be absolved of some among her many charges again.
The Sandiganbayan found Imelda Marcos guilty in November 2018 for creating and managing private Swiss foundations and bank accounts during her tenure as Metro Manila governor and minister of Human Settlements. That ruling carried prison terms of six years and one month to 11 years per count. Multiply that by seven counts.
The prosecution alleged that Mrs. Marcos had a direct and indirect financial or pecuniary interest in and participated in the management of several foundations based in Switzerland when she was a member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa and as minister of the then Ministry of Human Settlements and Environmental Management.
However, the Supreme Court found that the prosecution failed to establish that the Swiss foundations (Maler, Trinidad, Rayby, and Palmy) constituted "businesses" under Republic Act No. 3019 (the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act). The court noted that documents from Swiss banks were improperly authenticated, and state witnesses lacked personal knowledge of the records. Furthermore, the original charges mismatched her official positions at the time. Thus, it can be said that the acquittal was based on procedural and technical infirmities.
The decision written by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, the SC granted the petition of Mrs. Marcos against the Sandiganbayan’s decision. In resolving the petition, the SC pointed out its delicate task of balancing the constitutionally-protected right of an accused to due process of law and the interest of the state in repressing acts of public officers that constitute graft and corrupt practices.
During the BBM presidency, a number of other Supreme Court reversals of prior Marcos convictions had been made by the Supreme Court. Of course, it is presumed that all is based on evidence. We do not have enough space to enumerate and describe all of these cases this time, but we will do that in future columns.
Suffice it to say, that even if the nation has not experienced positive growth in the economy, and the people are still suffering extreme poverty, and we are still facing gargantuan problems, the Marcoses have attained major legal victories under this presidency. I remember the book written for the 1965 FM presidential campaign, "For Every Tear, A Victory". As of today, the people are in tears while the Marcoses are experiencing a series of victories.