3 paintings from Marcos collection sold at Christies’s auction —OSG

Three paintings that were allegedly part of the ill-gotten wealth of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family were sold at auction by Christie’s last year and fetched more than $3 million, according to a manifestation released by the Office of the Solicitor General on Monday.

The OSG noted it was not aware of the transaction.

As counsel of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the OSG filed the manifestation on January 25 informing the Sandiganbayan Special First Division of the sale “by virtue of a New York court order.”

The paintings included Claude Monet’s “L’Eglise et La Seine a Vetheuil” (1881), Alfred Sisley’s “Langland Bay” (1887), and Albert Marquet’s “Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said,” also called “Algerian View” (1946).

“The OSG had no prior knowledge of the sale and the details thereof or the supposed court order. While counsel for petitioner has requested the PCGG for details, the documentation is still forthcoming,” the OSG said.

The OSG “profusely apologized” to the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan—the lawful custodian of the paintings—and vowed “to provide further information as they become available.”

The sale was brought to the attention of the OSG after a meeting with PCGG Commissioner Rey Bulay on January 10, according to the manifestation.

The OSG released a memorandum to Bulay on January 11 asking for complete details and documentation of the paintings.

It also warned the PCGG to refrain from “disposing and/or transferring, or allowing the disposal or transfer, of any of the property subject of the case without Sandiganbayan approval” and “performing acts prejudicial to the interest of the Republic and inimical to the Republic’s claim in Civil Case No. 0141.”

Meanwhile, the OSG sought approval from the Sandiganbayan to extend the deadline for the filing of its formal offer of evidence, or a notice that the plaintiff is concluding its case against the Marcoses.

The deadline expired on Friday, but the OSG appealed for the anti-graft court to grant its request for a 20-day extension until February 28.

“Due to heavy pressure of work and the fact that the undersigned state solicitors (are) burdened with preparations of equally important pleadings, additional time is needed within which to file the required formal offer,” the OSG said.

The last witness presented by the OSG during trial was former custodian Crisostomo Pantoja. He confirmed the paintings in the forfeiture case were purchased during the Marcos regime and were displayed at the Malacañang Palace Compound.

$5 billion of properties

The defendants in Civil Case No. 0141 are former First Lady Imelda Marcos and her children Imee, Ferdinand Jr., and Irene.

Filed in 1991, the case involves the forfeiture of an estimated $5 billion worth of properties allegedly acquired illegally by the family during the Marcos regime.

Among the properties in the civil case are $658 million in secret deposits in Swiss banks that are now in escrow at the Philippine National Bank and 191 artworks worth more than $12 million.

The jewelry collections of the Marcoses are also part of Civil Case No. 0141, but the Sandiganbayan already awarded them—at least for the so-called Malacañang collection—in favor of the government in January 2014.

The Sandiganbayan will issue a partial summary judgment on the artworks once the formal offer of evidence from the OSG and comments from the Marcoses have been submitted. —VDS, GMA News