“An enraged Filipino people can also come full circle in their ability to oust this kleptocratic clique from power.”
By Elisha Beatrice Umali
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Human rights groups criticized the Sandiganbayan’s resolution dismissing the last pending civil case against the Marcos family.
Kris Lacaba, spokesperson of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (Carmma), said that the dismissal is Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ‘s end goal in securing the presidency to regain the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth sequestered by the government.
According to the Sandiganbayan’s resolution promulgated June 2, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) will no longer present evidence, noting that most properties were recovered through other civil actions.
“[T]he PCGG, which is supposed to prosecute the Marcoses, appears to have waved the white flag,” said civil rights group August Twenty-One Movement (Atom) in a social media post on June 6. They also called this move “totally unacceptable.”
Mandated to seize and recover the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth, PCGG filed Civil Case No. 0141 in 1991. The bigger pool of Marcos family’s assets identified by the commission amounts to an estimated $5 billion (approximately P308 billion today).
The civil suit is among PCGG’S 43 other civil cases and 28 criminal cases filed against the Marcos family from 1986 to 1995.
Through the years, Civil Case No. 0141 got four partial summary judgments. These ordered the forfeiture of an estimated total of nearly $680 million (approximately P41 billion today) worth of money and assets across different Supreme Court (SC) decisions from 2003 to 2019.
These include the Marcoses’ Swiss Deposits, Arelma Accounts, Malacañang Jewelry Collection and the proceeds of $17 million worth of painting and artwork sales.
On the other hand, the Sandiganbayan found Imelda Marcos guilty of seven counts of graft in 2018. She was convicted of illegally depositing $200 million in private Switzerland foundations using public funds during her term as then-Metropolitan Manila governor.
The court sentenced the former First Lady to serve from 6 to 11 years in prison for each count and a perpetual disqualification from public office. Despite the conviction, Imelda Marcos was not imprisoned due to her old age. She was 89 years old at the time.
The Sandiganbayan also allowed the Marcos matriarch to post a bail of P150,000 which granted her temporary freedom. The Marcoses also challenged the conviction by appealing before the SC.
As of this writing, her conviction remains on appeal. Since then, advocacy groups and former political prisoners have pushed the SC to junk the appeal.
“They [Marcoses] forget that an enraged Filipino people can also come full circle in their ability to oust this kleptocratic clique from power,” Lacaba said.
The Buhay ang People Power Campaign Network stressed the power of democracy in toppling the Marcos regime. “We look forward to the day when Marcos Jr., his mother, and his sister are held accountable for the crimes they committed in the past and continue to enable today.” (AMU, DAA)
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