A video by pro-Marcos vlogger Dante Maravillas claimed that cases against the Marcoses were all fictional, and there is no such thing as “ill-gotten wealth.” Court rulings on several cases against the family here and abroad disprove this claim.
“Lahat ng mga kaso ng mga kaalyado ninyo [against Marcos], lahat basura. Ibinase lang sa inyong imaginations and hallucinations (All of the cases filed by your allies against the Marcoses are trash. These are all based on your imaginations and hallucinations,” Maravillas said in a July 23 video posted in YouTube channel Bullseye News On The Go.
“Ano naman yung ire-recover niyong ill-gotten wealth eh wala namang ill-gotten (What ill-gotten wealth would you recover, if there’s no such thing),” he added.
Another video by YouTube channel BALITAAN NG BAYAN TV – which used part of Maravillas’ vlog – claimed in its title that the Marcoses’ wealth has been returned. This is also false.
The erroneous videos emerged days after the Supreme Court (SC), on July 19, released a resolution dated March 29 affirming the dismissal of a P1.052 billion ill-gotten wealth civil case against the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., his family, and five alleged Marcos cronies.
The Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of the case, as affirmed by the SC, hinged on insufficiency of evidence. “While it may be true that petitioner had submitted numerous pieces of evidence, many were excluded because they were not disclosed during the discovery process and others were excluded for violating the Best Evidence Rule,” the ruling said.
Earlier court rulings have affirmed the existence of the ill-gotten wealth.
Citing Supreme Court decisions in 2003, 2012, and 2017, former Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno debunked claims that the Marcos wealth was not ill-gotten.
Specifically, the High Court ruled that the US$658 million hidden in Swiss accounts, the US$3.37 million routed through a dummy Panamanian corporation, and the US$110,000 jewelry set called the Malacanang Collection are all ill-gotten wealth.
Ill-gotten wealth is defined by Republic Act No. 7080 as any asset, property or business, or material possession acquired through dummies or business associates through schemes such as commissions, abuse of power, or misappropriation of public funds, among other ways.
VERA Files Fact Check has likewise refuted these oft-repeated claims about the Marcos wealth. (Read: Court rulings against the Marcoses BELIE claims they had no ill-gotten wealth, Videos repeat multiple FALSE claims on Marcos cases and wealth, FALSE claims on Marcos wealth and cases reappear)
The video by BALITAAN NG BAYAN TV (created on July 27, 2020) got 5,098 interactions, while that of Bullseye News On The Go (created on Oct. 6, 2021) garnered 30,838 interactions. Both appeared four days after a rights group condemned the SC decision on the Marcos civil case.
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