$100-M FM assets in US uncovered

Two more hidden assets of Ferdinand Marcos worth at least $100 million have been discovered in the United States, an American lawyer representing human rights victims during the dictator’s regime disclosed yesterday.

Robert Swift, along with Filipino co-counsel Rod Domingo, also announced at a press conference that at least 7,500 Filipino victims during martial law are expected to receive $2,000 each by the second quarter of 2007.

"We have learned in the past one and a half years that there are some real estates in Texas and Colorado, about 4,000 hectares that were purchased by Jose Campos in the late 1970s or early 1980s," said Swift, US lead counsel for the martial law victims, at the press conference held in Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.

Campos is believed to be one of the many fronts allegedly used by the Marcoses in purchasing or holding on to their hidden wealth.

Swift said they were actively engaged in litigation over these properties, adding that Campos was trying to defend these assets.

"Hopefully we will be able to show those properties were owned by Marcos… these will justify the judgment of human rights victims in the Philippines," he said. "The value of the real estate in Texas alone is $100 million."

Swift did not disclose how much the value of the assets in Colorado was worth.

The US District Court of Hawaii has authorized the distribution of the Marcos loot as soon as appeals in the Merril Lynch vs. Arelma case pending before the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals shall have been concluded and finally resolved.

Swift said the $2,000 to be distributed derives from a security account at Merril Lynch in New York. The account was owned by Marcos but held in the name of Arelma, a Panamanian corporation.

"We will make sure that the money will be given to the right person," Swift said.

Swift said they had a meeting with the Philippine Bankers Association and agreed that the victims can claim their payments, in check, in some of the banks in the country.

Swift said the Philippine government and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the government body tasked to recover the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth, also claimed the money but had never proven that it was stolen or ill-gotten.

The STAR tried to reach PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio, but was referred by his office to Atty. Jimmy Bautista of the PCGG Special Council.

In a phone interview, Bautista said the counsels of the human rights victims should provide them with proof of the Marcos assets in the US.

He also noted that the government was doing its job to compensate these victims. He pointed to a bill pending in Congress where lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives are set to debate on and reconcile the amount of compensation to be given to victims of martial law. The House of Representatives is proposing P8 billion, while the Senate seeks P10 billion.

Swift said the $2,000 payment was only the initial award, and more human rights victims will be receiving their payments soon.

"The $2,000 payments are just the initial distribution. The US court wants each victim to receive the initial tranche of the money before authorizing a second payment," Domingo said.

A representative of a group of martial law victims, called Claimants 1081, said they welcomed the news of partial compensation.

The group also called on government leaders "to prevail upon the duplicitous and mercenary habit of PCGG commissioners who have no qualms in dancing to any tune of compromise with Imelda Marcos and cronies, at the same time, squandering millions of taxpayers money in futile litigation attempts to deny the rightful claims of their own citizens."

"We enjoin all members of the class suit to unite and focus on the principle issue of justice and compensation and take this opportunity to further the cause of justice and welfare of the victims and their families," Rolli Abiog, executive officer of the group, said.

"We call upon the good men of this nation to support us in winning this battle not so much for the monetary compensation but to achieve the moral and political vindication of human rights against the forces of tyranny and oppression," he said.