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Only undecided Marcos loot cases were subject of Duterte’s doubt —Panelo


President Rodrigo Duterte only expressed doubts on the alleged ill-gotten weath of the Marcos family that has not yet been proven in court, Malacañang said on Friday.

Duterte's spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the clarification after the President on Tuesday cast doubt on allegations that the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family had amassed ill-gotten wealth, drawing negative reactions from victims of martial law in the 1970s.

Some senatorial candidates also countered the President's misgivings by citing previous Supreme Court rulings which declared as ill-gotten the wealth Marcos had supposedly accumulated during his term from 1965 to 1986.

"Ang point of view lang ng Presidente with respect to other billions na sinasabing hindi pa napapatunayan iyon...but with respect to those cases decided by the court, ay walang question doon, no question doon – iyon na ‘yun eh," Panelo said at a news conference.

"What is clear to me and to the President is, there are cases decided by the Supreme Court and that it’s final. So if the Supreme Court says, as far as this government is concerned, your wealth is beyond – as far as those who have been traced – beyond your salaries, kaya ill-gotten ‘yan, kaya we’ll get that," he added.

Asked if the President believes that Marcoses had stolen money from the people, Panelo said: "From the President’s perspective as a lawyer, whatever the Supreme Court says, we have no choice but to agree."

Panelo said the Marcoses have been accused of stealing up to $400 billion from state coffers but the Palace official could not present basis for this.

"That’s what I read ever since, na ganoon kalaki iyong ninakaw," he said.

Official estimates, however, indicated that Marcos had amassed $5 billion to $10 billion from government coffers. 

Following Marcos’ ouster due to the People Power Revolution in February 1986, the state - through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) created by then-President Corazon Aquino the same year - went to great lengths to recover these stolen wealth, even engaging in arduous court battles here and abroad that dragged on for years.

The PCGG has so far recovered P172.66 billion worth of ill-gotten wealth from the Marcoses and cronies of the former president who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989.

In 2017, Duterte said the Marcos family was willing to return a portion of their supposed hidden wealth and gold bars.

Duterte however said congressional approval may be needed to give possible immunity to the Marcos family from prosecution should they agree to return the alleged ill-gotten wealth.

The President is a political ally of the Marcoses and a vocal admirer of the late strongman, who was laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on November 18, 2016 following support from the President himself and the Supreme Court.

Duterte is also supporting the 2019 senatorial bid of Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, one of the three children of the late dictator. —NB, GMA News

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