Govt recovers P1.3-B Marcos Swiss accounts

Published February 12, 2014 1:07pm

(Updated 6:04 p.m.) The government has recovered the last tranche of Marcos Swiss accounts worth a total of P1.3 billion ($29 million) after a Singapore court ruled that the Philippine National Bank (PNB) had the legal title to the deposits.

At a press briefing Wednesday, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) chairperson Andres Bautista said the amount has been remitted to the National Treasury on February 5.

The accounts were worth $23 million in 2003 and have since gained interests.

“The recovered amount form part of the Swiss bank accounts of former President Ferdinand Marcos and his family that were ordered forfeited by the Philippine Supreme Court in 2003 but which were held up in litigation in Singapore since then,” said Bautista.

In 2003, the Supreme Court granted the forfeiture of the bank deposits, allowing PNB to give most of the money back to the Philippine Treasury under an escrow agreement.

But the funds were held up in Singapore after complaints were filed against it by human rights lawyers. Singapore's high court ruled in favor of PNB in 2012.

Singapore's appeals court affirmed the high court decision on December 30.

Not a party to the case

Reached for his comments, Senator Bongbong Marcos, son of the late strongman, steered clear of the government's recovery of his father's Swiss accounts, saying their family has not been a party to the case for years.

"These cases about the recovery of the so-called ill gotten wealth, hindi na kami nag-aappear na riyan because it's really between the claimants and the Philippine government. Sila ngayon ang nag-uusap riyan. We have not really been involved in those cases for many years already," Senator Marcos told reporters.

He added that their camp has not filed any kind of opposition to the forfeiture of the Swiss account for a long time.

"I think that the estate, meron silang mga binigay na submissions kasi hiningi sa estate pero beyond that, wala na," the senator said.

President Marcos' widow, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, meanwhile, is consulting with her lawyer about this development, according to her chief of staff Filadelfo Garcia.

Garcia called the case “an old issue” since the government has been going after the Marcos’ Swiss accounts for years.

President Marcos signed on Sept. 21, 1972 Proclamation No. 108 that imposed Martial Law in the Philippines, following increasing civil strife and threats of communist takeover.

The abuse of authority of the Marcoses and their cronies led to the 1986 People Power Revolution which toppled the regime. — Siegfrid O. Alegado with Andreo Calonzo and Xianne Arcangel/RSJ/KBK, GMA News

Tags: ferdinandmarcos, marcoswealth, pcgg