Rights victims seek arrest of Marcoses

Former first lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos and her son, Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos II may be arrested once they arrive in the United States, a party-list congresswoman said yesterday.

Akbayan Rep. Loretta Anne "Etta" Rosales told The STAR her faction of the 9,539 Marcos human rights victims asked yesterday Judge Manuel Real of the US District Court in Hawaii to order the arrest of the widow and son of the late President Ferdinand Marcos for their failure to comply with the court-approved $150 million settlement with Claimants 1081.

Rosales said the continued failure of the Marcos heirs to pay her group the $150 million has left them with no other recourse but to ask Real to order the arrest of the former first lady and Governor Marcos, who are the representatives of the Marcos estate.

"The district court has repeatedly warned that, should the Marcos family fail to comply with the $150 million settlement, the court shall order the arrest of...Mrs. Marcos and...Bongbong, should they step on American territory," she said.

Rosales said they have also asked Real to declare the Marcos heirs in contempt of court and to fine them $100,000 a day starting from 1992 once the $150 million deal–now $190 million– is terminated.

"Equally, the Hawaii court had earlier warned that following the termination of the agreement, the Marcos Family would have to pay the penalty of some $190 million now accumulated for contempt of court in disobeying an earlier court order not to touch the frozen Marcos accounts," she said.

However, Rosales said the $150 million can no longer be taken from the $629 million escrow funds deposited at the Philippine National Bank after the Sandiganbayan ruled last Sept. 19 that the money, which was "unlawfully acquired or ill gotten," belongs to the government.

Under the law, all ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos Family and their cronies would be used to fund the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. – Jose Rodel Clapano