Where's the $10B Marcos Loot?

Thirty one (31) years after the 1986 Edsa Revolution, the question still remained unanswered; where is the $10B worth of the suspected loot by the Marcos family?

Official US customs record specified what the fleeing Marcos family had in their coffers during the said "exodus". In its 23-page records, the fleeing Marcos family had in their plane 23 wooden crates; 12 suitcases and bags, various boxes that contain clothes, 413 pieces of jewelry, 70 pairs of jewel-studded cufflinks; an ivory statue of infant Jesus with a silver mantle and a diamond necklace; 24 gold bricks which are presents for the marcos couple for thier 24th anniversary; and more than P27M freshly printed. These items sums up to a total value of $15M.

photo credit to the guardian.com

This amassed amount is generally enough to sustain the family's needs for at least a year while in exile and seeking diplomatic support from other countries. With the amount, they could actually acquire a luxurious mansion in U.S., start a business, say jewelry store or pawnshop and buy properties for future spending. Meaning, the Marcos family have in their hands a significant amount of money!

However, according to a subsequent estimate by the the supreme court of the Philippines En Banc decision, the Marcoses have actually accumulated up to $658M while in office, inclusive of interest.
Such amount, according to Eimor P. Santos of CNN where actually acquired through the following arrangements and means;

• Outright takeover of large private enterprises
• Creation of state-owned monopolies in vital sectors of the economy
• Awarding government loans to private individuals acting as fronts for Marcos or his cronies
• Direct raiding of the public treasury and government financial institutions
• Kickbacks and commissions from firms working in the Philippines
• Skimming off foreign aid and other forms of international assistance

Meanwhile, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the Philippine government's agency tasked to sequester all the assets, including proceeds, of the said ill-gotten wealth; these includes accumulated amount Marcos' immediate family members, relatives, subordinates and close associates. 

PCGG has been working for almost 31 years. It is composed of 94 lawyers, researchers and adminsitrators operating in a building, which is also recovered form the Marcos family. Said agency as an annual budget of $2.2M for all of its operations. The following is a run-down of what's our government is after in the context of the Marcos' Ill gotten wealth.

More than the COC Gems. Initially estimated at P377 million, PCGG confiscated the jewelry collection of former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos. These will be revalued and auctioned at the Bangko Sental ng Pilipinas (BSP), upon which proceeds will go directly to the Beaureu of Treasury. 

The jewelry sets include gem and diamond-studded tiaras, bracelets, and necklaces from the Hawaii collection — which were seized from the Marcoses upon their arrival in Honolulu on February 26, 1986. These have been stored in a vault at the BSP.

photo not mine. credits to owner (AFP Romeo Gacad)

The Crown Building. Formerly known as the Heckscher Building, it is located at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in New York, was sold at an auction for $93.6 million, a 1991 New York Times article reported. The building was purchased in 1981 by then Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Marcos used international companies to purchase the building secretly, also obtaining help from Ralpy and Joseph Bernstein as well as Adnan Khashoggi. (wikkipedia.org)

photo credits to wikkipedia.org

Old Masters paintings and antique silver. There are eighty-two (82) masters paintings and 71 boxes of antique silverware stampped as Philippine government property, and were auctioned in New York for $13,302,604.86. Such items were seized from the Palace and from the Metropolitan Museum in Manila. 

"In 1991, the New York Times also reported that the U.S. government sold 25 Khashoggi paintings, dubbed as such because these were seized from wealthy Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi in 1987. These were reportedly acquired from Imelda Marcos in the previous year and led to her and Khashoggi's indictment for racketeering and fraud" - CNN Philippines.

photo credits to owner @CNN Philippines

Multi-million dollar bank deposits. A sum of $627M of the families bank deposit were acquired from Switzerland based from the ruling of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Currently, the said accounts was placed under an escrow account in the Philippines in PNB. An Escrow account generally refers to money held by a third-party on behalf of transacting parties (wikkipedia). 

When the first efforts to recover the Marcos Swiss accounts were initiated, the amount was only $398 million. Now, it has risen to $676 million! But the best part is that the money is already in our treasury coffers.

photo credit to indiatoday.in

Multi-million dollar assets from Marcos’ dummy corporation. Then President Ferdinand Marcos formed Arelma, S.A. (Arelma) in 1972 under Panamanian law. That same time, Arelma opened a brokerage account with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. (Merrill Lynch) in New York, depositing $2 million. By 2000, the account had grown to approximately $35 million.

Amid several claimants — including Arelma itself, the Philippine government, and human rights victims — the Sandiganbayan declared the Arelma-held assets forfeited in favor of the Philippine government in 2009. In 2012, the Supreme Court (SC) affirmed the anti-graft court's decision.

Photo credits to CNN

Baguio property. Auctioned off for more than US$2 million. The 3,900-square-meter (41,000-square-foot) lot in the mountain resort city of Baguio was acquired by a real estate firm for P93 million ($2.16 million). PCGG said that at least 93.4 billion pesos have been recovered from the Marcoses and their allies so far. But it has long complained that the lack of a paper trail and delaying tactics by lawyers for the Marcos estate have hampered its efforts.

Lot on Roxas Boulevard. A 4,038-square meter commercial and residential lot on Roxas Boulevard in Parañaque City known as the "Mapalad property" was auctioned off for P247.11 million. The property was surrendered to the Corazon Aquino government in 1986 also by Campos. In June 2013, the PCGG turned over the proceeds to the BTr.

Properties in San Juan, Pasig and Quezon City. Confiscated properties worth P157 million from the estate of late National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Jolly Bugarin were sold at an auction.

The combined winning bids were for a house and lot measuring 727 square meters in North Greenhills, San Juan; a 721-square meter property in Valle Verde III in Pasig; and a 582-square meter lot in Capitol Hills, Diliman Quezon City.

Authentic Gobillard paintings. On the orders of the Sandiganbayan, authorities seized 15 paintings from Imelda Marcos' residence in San Juan City — 11 of these were found to be authentic works of French impressionist Paule Gobillard.

All the paintings were estimated to be worth $1 million.

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P166B returned to government so far

In the latest 2013 annual report of the PCGG, P166.2 billion of Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth has already been turned over to the national treasury.

Majority (47%) went to the funding for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and the coconut industry (43%), while the rest will go mostly to compensation for human rights victims and the Office of the President.

Post-Script: 

Meanwhile, as the PCGG and other cause-oreinted groups are all willing and eager to recover the Marcos Il-gotten wealth, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told the press of his plans of proposing an "unholy" agreement with the Marcos family in behalf of the Filipino people. 

"The Marcoses – I will not name the spokesman – said that they'll open everything and probably return those [ill-gotten wealth] that had been discovered. They said maybe this year, the projected deficit spending would be big," the President said.

Meanwhile, Duterte reiterated his plan to dismantle the PCGG but however changed his mind following the latest development.   The President said he was instead scouting for at least three persons who can negotiate with the Marcoses regarding their plan to return the gold bars to the Philippine government.   He said he may pick mediators who are "not identified with [him] nor identified with the other group."   "I want to abolish it but the people might say that on the verge of discovering something, it has been dismantled," the President said.   "Trying to look for a guy not identified with anybody to handle the negotiation, if they want. I’m looking at a former Chief Justice, then another CPA and maybe a representative of all that is accepted also by all so that three individuals can do the negotiation,"  

Read more: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2017/08/29/duterte-marcos-family-willing-return-few-gold-bars-561106

With the pending circumstances, the Filipino nation is at the brink of witnessing how a country leader would engage such an agreement with the family of a former President, tainted with corruption and massive human rights violations.