Manila, Philippines - Imelda Marcos claims she's going broke. And she has the perfect solution: she wants her loot back.
The wife of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos is demanding that the Philippine government return P15 billion worth of jewelry a collection which includes a Persian-style necklace with more than 100 carats of canary and pink diamonds; tiaras previously owned by European royalty; a 93-carat diamond necklace crafted by renowned Italian
designer Gionmoria Buccellati.
There is no conceivable way Mrs. Marcos could have paid for the jewels on the ostensible salary of her late husband Ferdinand, who was first president and then dictator of the Philippines. Yet she claims the loot is rightfully hers, and wasn't bought using plundered wealth.
The jewels consisting of three collections were seized by or turned over to the Philippine government after the downfall of the Marcos regime in 1986. [See sidebar]
In her letter to Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) on May 25, 2009, Mrs. Marcos insisted that she remains the items legitimate owner since the agency has yet to initiate any civil or criminal proceedings in any court for their forfeiture.
Mrs. Marcos noted that the PCGG never issued any sequestration or freeze order over the jewels, as mandated by Article 18 of the 1987 Constitution.
The Justice Department, however, rejected Mrs. Marcos request, saying that the Malacañang collection is part of forfeiture proceedings pending before the Sandiganbayan, the countrys anti-graft court.
Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said there is no way that the PCGG can release the jewelry due to the pending forfeiture case.
Marcos wealth
Imelda's attempt to reclaim the jewels is only the latest episode in a two-decade battle between the Marcoses and the government over the wealth of the late dictators family.
Shortly after she was swept to power in the 1986 EDSA revolt, former President Corazon Aquino formed the PCGG to assert the government's claims.
Aside from the contested jewels, the Marcos wealth purportedly includes millions of dollars stashed away in Swiss bank accounts, several private estates, and the secret ownership of shares in private corporations of Marcos cronies.
More than two decades have passed since the Marcos regime was overthrown by the People Power uprising, but the family has always insisted that their wealth was not ill-gotten.
Mrs. Marcos argues that her husband was already rich even before they got married, fending off claims that she, her husband, and their friends pilfered the Philippine governments treasury.
Mrs. Marcos alone is facing 10 graft charges on allegations that she held financial interests in secret foundations and private enterprises while she was a member of the Interim Batasan Pambansa from 1978 to 1984.
To date, neither Imelda nor any of the accused of ill-gotten wealth during the Marcos regime have spent a minute in jail. But the government has had moderate success in recovering the Marcos wealth in a range of corporations and properties.
Mockery of justice
Critics of the Marcos administration have vowed to block the possible return of the confiscated jewelry to the former First Lady.
Etta Rosales of the militant group Akbayan said returning the jewels would be a disservice to Filipinos, especially the victims of human rights abuses, torture, and enforced disappearance during martial law from 1972 to 1981.
SOURCE: YOUTUBE
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