Palace will support PCGG deal with Marcoses: Defensor

A Malacanang official on Sunday reiterated that the Palace is amenable to a compromise agreement with the Marcos family. According to Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, 20 years of litigation in courts achieved very little in recovering billions in alleged ill-gotten wealth while government continues to scrounge for money to fund projects to benefit the people and jumpstart the economy. "Even those who are against the Marcoses, against any compromise agreement, have not presented any viable alternative how we can recover this money," Defensor said in a telephone interview. "After such a long time, I think the people should directly benefit from proceeds of any compromise agreement," he said. Defensor's statement came days after the Presidential Commission on Good Government announced that it wants to enter into a compromise agreement with the Marcos family. According to PCGG Chair Camilo Sabio, exploratory talks were being held between government and the Marcoses but added that it was not initiated by Malacanang. Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio Bunye, in a previous interview, had also backed the proposal to forge an agreement with the Marcos family and their cronies, saying that it could result in a ``closure.'' Defensor on Sunday maintained the Palace has nothing to do with PCGG's policy of entering into compromise agreements with the Marcoses. "The PCGG is an independent constitutional body, independent of us but I think the Palace also wants a speedy, fair and just resolution to efforts to recover (ill-gotten wealth)," he said. There are no exact figures as to how much the last strongman Ferdinand Marcos actually plundered from the country during his dictatorship but according to one PCGG estimate, the amount could be anywhere between $5 billion to $10 billion. Former solicitor general Frank Chavez earlier claimed that Marcos and his family have $13.4 billion deposited in Swiss banks. But some, like the $684-million Marcos deposit with a Swiss bank, were recovered through litigation and turned over to the Philippine government. Last year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Department of Budget and Management to earmark P8 billion from the recovered money to compensate victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime. However, she asked Congress to enact a law to officially allocate the amount since existing laws provide that money recovered from the Marcos' ill-gotten wealth must all go to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). APOLOGIZE FIRST Meanwhile, the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP) also expressed support for the PCGG's move to enter into compromise agreements but said the Marcoses should also apologize for atrocities committed during the dictatorship. Fr. Archie Intengan, one of PDSP's founders and ideologues, said any compromise agreement should fair and just and clearly benefit the people. He said the proceeds should be "awarded to the people in the most expeditious manner without sacrificing principles." "There can only be an amicable settlement if there would be an apology first from the Marcoses," Intengan said.-GMANews.TV