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P200-B ill-gotten wealth case vs Marcoses included domestic, foreign assets


The P200 billion ill-gotten wealth case against the members of the Marcos family that the Philippine government lost due to lack of evidence involved a massive amount of assets that included bank deposits, real properties, companies, radio and television stations, and aircraft.

The amount was just a little less than the proposed P203 billion budget for the Department of Budget and Management for 2020, and involved wealth that could be found across the country's three main island groups as well as overseas.

The P200 billion ill-gotten wealth case against the Marcos family, filed in July 1987 by the Presidential Commission on Good Government, included :

  • P976 million bank deposit at the Security Bank and Trust Company;
  • P711 million bank deposit at the Traders Royal Bank;
  • 33 parcels of residential property with an estimated value of P18 million
  • about 21 ,700 hectares of agricultural land in Leyte with an estimated value of P33 million;
  • shares of stock in numerous corporations totaling around P625 million shares, including 2.4 million shares of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) valued at around P1.6 billion covered by shares of stock in the Philippine Telecommunication Investment Corporation (PTIC)
  • deposits in foreign banks approximately at US $292 million
  • investments in foreign   banks, financial  houses and  industrial, mining, and other corporations worth around at US $98 million
  • investments in real properties including four major buildings in Manhattan, New York , USA; an estate in Long Island, New York, USA; condominiums in Fifth Avenue, New York, USA; a penthouse in London, United Kingdom; and residential houses in Honolulu, Hawaii, Beverly Hills, California, and Cedars, Mississippi, USA;
  • a total 177 paintings, some of which were by world-famous painters
  • 42 crates containing jewelry, in Philippine and US currencies, certificates of time deposits, documents, and bearer certificates, which were seized and held by the United States Customs Service upon the arrival of defendant Marcoses in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 26, 1986. (The value of the Philippine currency was more than P27 Million, and the US currency at approximately US $ 8.9 million)
  • pieces of jewelry intercepted at the Honolulu airport in the amount of around P236 Million;
  • 24 boxes and suitcases found at the Malacañang Palace containing pieces of jewelry, coins, medallions, perfumes, evening gowns, and other vanity items valued at more than P14 million
  • defendant Imee Marcos' winter wardrobe appraised at around P288,000 found at  the Manila Mandarin Hotel cold storage vault
  • at least 70 companies, radio and television stations in 10 Philippine provinces in Luzon, Visayas and in Mindanao on top of those in Metro Manila including Manila Golf and Country Club, National Museum, PLDT, Security Bank and Trust, Co. RPN, BBC, IBC TV television and radio stations, five hacienda properties in Negros Occidental, and
  • at least 19 transfer certificate of titles or tax declarations

Under Executive Order 14 issued by then-President Corazon Aquino in May 1986 defining the jurisdiction over cases involving the ill-gotten wealth of former President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife Imelda, members of their immediate family, close relatives, subordinates, close and/or business associates, dummies, agents and nominees, the technical rules of procedure and evidence “shall not be strictly applied to the civil cases filed hereunder.”

The Sandiganbayan Special Fourth Division, however, dismissed the P200 billion forfeiture case against the Marcoses on Monday, December 16, due to lack of evidence since more than 130 sets of documentary evidence presented by the prosecution were mere photocopies and thus in violation of the best evidence rule. — DVM, GMA News

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