Imee dodges question on sales of seized Marcos jewelry for COVID-19 vaccine purchase

Senator Imee Marcos on Friday declined to say whether the money to be raised from the sale of jewelry sets recovered from her family should be used to buy COVID-19 vaccines.

Marcos did not give a categorical response when she was asked about the matter during the Laging Handa briefing, where she also gave her thoughts on topics such as rice importation, proposed rationalization of fiscal incentives and moratorium on power disconnections.

“Well, kung ano ang mahahanap natin ay kailangan talagang ibigay sa COVID vaccine. Maraming salamat. Thank you very much,” she said.

The lawmaker then shifted to updates regarding the progress of vaccine development in China, Russia and the United States.

Her remarks came two days after President Rodrigo Duterte, a political ally of the Marcoses, said he wanted to have more money to ensure that all Filipinos will receive a vaccine.

State-owned banks and the proposed 2021 national budget will help fund the purchase of the vaccines, according to Malacañang.

In May last year, Duterte approved the auction of jewelry sets the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) seized following the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos, the senator’s father, in February 1986.

Former Palace spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at the time that the proceeds from the auction must reach Filipinos "who are in urgent need of governmental aid."

The Malacañang Collection is kept in the vaults of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas along with the Roumeliotes and Hawaii collections.

The collection is composed of smaller, less expensive pieces that the Marcoses left behind when they fled during the 1986 People Power Revolution.

The Hawaii collection, meanwhile, comprises jewelry found in the family's luggage when they arrived at the Honolulu International Airport on February 25, 1986.

The 60-piece Roumeliotes Collection was seized from Demetriou Roumeliotes, a Greek national, at the Manila International Airport as he was about to leave the country in March 1986. -MDM, GMA News