New DOJ chief, PCGG nix turnover of P15-B Imelda jewels
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 06/16/2009 6:29 PM
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MANILA - The Philippines on Tuesday said jewelry worth P15 billion ($310 million) confiscated from former first lady Imelda Marcos would remain under lock and key in the government's control.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera met Tuesday with officials from the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and reviewed the case after her predecessor suggested that Marcos was the rightful owner of the jewels.
Devanadera, speaking after the talks, told reporters that the collection was considered part of the Marcos family's stolen wealth and remained the subject of a civil forfeiture case pending in an anti-graft court ruling.
"The Supreme Court has said that any property that is well and beyond the legitimate income of president Marcos are considered ill-gotten wealth," she said.
The PCGG was set up shortly after late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his family and cronies were forced to flee the country in 1986 in the wake of massive street protests and a military revolt.
Devanadera said the collection was covered under one of many unresolved civil cases filed against Imelda Marcos and her family, and therefore would not be turned over to the former first lady without a court ruling.
Asked whether the government intended to return the jewels, she said: "No."
Devanadera and laywer Jay Miguel, PCGG legal director, said the Marcos jewelry are divided into three.
The “Roumeliotes collection”, they said, is with the Bureau of Customs. It would reportedly be up to the BoC on what to do with the collection. The jewels were seized from a Greek courier of the Marcoses who attempted to smuggle a portion of the jewels out of the country in 1986.
The “Hawaii collection”, or the jewels surrendered by the Marcoses to US authorities after they arrived in the US after their ouster from power in 1986 have been turned over to the Philippine government. Miguel said the ownership of this collection is clearly with the Philippine government. He said the Marcos family and the US government entered into a settlement agreement on the set of confiscated jewellery and the agreement was also confirmed by a the US District court of Hawaii. He said the set was then turned over by US authorities to the Philippine government.
Miguel said that the “Malacañang collection” or the set of jewellery found in Malacañang Palace after the Marcoses left is involved in a pending case before the Sandiganbayan. He said the set is part of the Civil Case 141 which is still pending before the anti-graft court on the recovery of Marcos’s ill-gotten wealth.
"Natagpuan sa Malacanang right after Marcoses fled.. those jewelleries were possessed in excess of the lawful income of the Marcoses and should be forfeited," said Miguel.
The Malacañang and Hawaii collections are held by the PCGG.
PCGG chair Camilo Sabio meanwhile denied statements that his agency was not doing anything on the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family. "Its not correct, these are legal matters. It just doesn’t depend on PCGG... and aside from legal issues, the recovery of Marcos's ill-gotten wealth is also a political matter," said Sabio.
PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede meanwhile said he believes that confiscated jewellery should be auctioned off by the government so that the revenues can be used. The PCGG had initially wanted to auction off the jewels in 2006, but was stopped after Mrs. Imelda Marcos obtained a temporary restraining order from a court.
"They’re non-performing assets. If we can dispose of stocks, TV and radio stations, why not jewelleries? They’re properties that have to be disposed to bring money to govt," said Abcede.
Abcede also scoffed at recent statements made by Mrs. Marcos that she is poor. "If Mrs. Marcos is poor but lives in [a] sprawling condo sa [The] Fort and travels to Hong Kong and Singapore for treatment, my fervent wish is for all Filipinos to be poor," said the PCGG commissioner.
Imelda Marcos, known worldwide for her vast collection of shoes that symbolized her wasteful and flamboyant lifestyle, said Monday that the collection included personal pieces and religious images.
She said she was hopeful of having the collection returned after 23 years.
She was speaking shortly after Devanadera's predecessor, Raul Gonzalez, issued a legal opinion in which he said that Imelda evidently "remains to be the legitimate owner of the prized jewelleries."
It was not clear why Gonzalez, who was earlier removed from the justice department after a five-year stint, issued the legal opinion and he was not available for comment Tuesday.
The Marcos children are back in power in the family's northern heartland, but Imelda Marcos failed in a 1992 presidential bid. With reports from Agence France-Presse and Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN News
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