Marcos’s illegal wealth forfeited to government

After a 17-year legal battle, the Supreme Court has finally decided to award the $658 million Swiss Bank deposits of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos held in escrow by the Philippine National Bank to the Philippine government.

The Supreme Court based its decision on Section 6 of the Republic Act 1379, which states that "whenever any public officer has acquired during his incumbency an amount or property manifestly out of proportion to his salary, the said property should be presumed to have been unlawfully acquired."

Figures presented by the Sandiganbayan showed that the combined salaries of Marcos and his wife, Imelda – who served as governor of Metropolitan Manila and a minister of human settlements – totalled to only $304,300 during their 20-year rule.

According to law, the ill-gotten wealth recovered from the Marcoses should be used to finance the government’s land reform program.

Now there is a move to amend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law so that $150 million from the forfeited Marcos account will go to the 10,000 human rights victims during martial law.

A Hawaiian Federal District Court earlier granted $150 million to Marcos’s human rights victims, but no funds were available.

Rod Domingo, Jr., who was the chief lawyer of the human rights victims, has said that the government cannot use the entire amount for agrarian reform because one of the conditions imposed by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court was the compensation of Marcos’s human rights victims.

We sincerely hope that the government finds a legal way to compensate the victims of Marcos’s dictatorial rule and to implement the land reform program for landless farmers.

The Supreme Court’s decision is the biggest case that the government has won against the Marcoses.

But it is not complete. If the Marcoses have truly stolen $658 million from the people, it is not enough that the government has recovered the amount.

They should be arrested, prosecuted and tried in court for plunder.

Why is this not being done?

Compared to the Marcoses, the plunder case against ousted President Joseph Estrada is a much lesser case. Do we have a double standard of justice?

How can our courts confiscate money for having been stolen and not prosecute the person or persons responsible? Shouldn’t the courts also go after the heirs?

How can they explain their wealth?

It is not enough to recover stolen wealth. Those who have stolen the people’s money should be prosecuted.

You cannot inherit stolen property.

We really hope that the victims of martial law will be compensated.

Fairness is what justice is all about.