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Martial law victims' group: Marcoses should return all ill-gotten wealth

August 30, 2017 | 1:49pm

Martial law victims' group: Marcoses should return all ill-gotten wealth

This diamond-studded necklace, seized by the Philippine government from former first lady Imelda Marcos, was presented to the media at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas office in Manila in 2015. Edd Gumban, file

MANILA, Philippines — Claimants 1081, a group composed of over 9,000 rights abuse victims during Martial Law, on Wednesday denounced the supposed plan of the Marcos family to return some of their alleged ill-gotten wealth.

“The announcement of President Duterte that the Marcoses will return a portion of their ill-gotten wealth is unacceptable. First, this is a clear admission that the Marcoses still have ill-gotten wealth stolen from the Filipino people during Marcos' regime,” Claimants 1081 executive director Zenaida Mique said in a statement.

In a speech at the Malacañang on Tuesday, Duterte said a spokesman for the Marcos family, whom he did not name, supposedly told him the Marcoses have already agreed to return their unexplained wealth including a “few gold bars”.

The wealth were supposedly accumulated during the 20-year rule of the ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Mique said the Marcoses “have no moral or legal rights to choose to return 'some' of these ill-gotten wealth”.

“We're talking here of Filipino people's money. The government should vigorously pursue the so many forfeiture cases against the Marcoses pending in Sandiganbayan, Supreme Court and other courts,” Mique said.

“If the Marcoses are sincere in their offer, they should return all their ill-gotten wealth,” she added.

Claimants 1081 and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) are the claimants in a pending civil case before the US Federal Court in New York City which seeks to recover 150 pieces of paintings and other artworks allegedly purchased with public funds during the Marcos regime.

Mique said they have received an unverified report that one of the condiitons in the offer to return the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth is for the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to come up with a marker for the centennial of Marcos' birth on September 11.

“We don't know yet where the marker will be placed but this is all part of their attempts to revise our history and to condition the mind of the people that Marcos is a hero...Let us be vigilant and not be deceived by their sinister plan,” Mique said.

There are eight pending civil cases that the PCGG filed before the Sandiganbayan in 1987 seeking the return of ill-gotten wealth allegedly amassed by the Marcos family and their cronies during Martial Law.

'No effect on compensation for victims'

Meanwhile, in a text message to the STAR, Human Rights Victims' Claims Board chairperson Lina Sarmiento said the supposed plans of the Marcoses' unexplained wealth will have no effect in the compensation of the human rights victims during martial law.

“There will be no effect in the implementation of Republic Act 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013. The law provides for a fixed amount of P10 billion as compensation to the victims (minus administrative expenses),” Sarmiento explained.

Sarmiento said that, to date, a total of P260 million has already been given to 3,383 claimants representing 50 percent of their estimated monetary reparation.

Sarmiento said only 617 eligible claimants of the initial 4,000 eligible claimants have yet to receive any compensation due to various reasons such as oppositions and appeals.

Some claimants opted to wait for the whole amount before they withdraw their money.

She said a total of 75,730 claimants have applied for compensation. She said that 72 percent of all the claims have already been adjudicated as of August 29, 2017.