VICE President Leni Robredo yesterday vowed to step up the government’s pursuit of the remaining ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family if she becomes President next year as she said they are living the life when many Filipinos are mired in poverty, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robredo slammed one of her rivals in the presidential race, former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., for vowing to uplift the lives of Filipinos as a campaign promise when, she said, their family is among the reasons for the widespread poverty in the country.
“Nililinlang. Akala ng iba kapag ito binoto natin ito magsasalba sa atin. Pero tingnan yung records, ito ang dahilan kung bakit tayo naghihirap (We’re being deceived. Some people think that if we vote for the Marcoses, they will be our saviors but if we look at the records, their family is the reason we are poor,” she said in a radio interview.
Robredo defeated the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 2016 vice presidential race, and next year’s presidential race will be the second time that they will be facing off.
“Sa panahon na ang daming Pilipino naghihirap, nagpapakasasa sila sa magandang buhay.
Hindi ‘yun justified (At a time when many Filipinos are suffering, they are living lavishly. I don’t think that’s justified),” the Vice President said when asked how she plans to approach the issue if she wins the presidential race.
Robredo said the public has to know that the stories about the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family were not made up, stressing that court records would prove that convictions were made in some of the cases.
“In fact we have already recovered many stolen wealth but not all. So we have to zero in o this and make sure we recover it),” she said in Filipino.
In 2018, former first lady and then Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos was found guilty of seven counts of graft by the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division for violating R. A. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The case stemmed from the transfer of around $200 million to seven Swiss foundations during her term as a member of the old Batasang Pambansa, as Metro Manila governor, and as then minister of Human Settlements.
She eventually posted a P300,000 bail pending appeal.
While there are no more pending criminal cases against the Marcoses, there are still civil cases concerning ill-gotten wealth and forfeiture that remain under appeal before the High Court, including Marcos’ art collections.
Another pending case is Civil Case No. 0167 against Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez, which mostly involves real estate properties.
In Civil Case No. 0141 alone, the government was able to recover $658 million in Swiss deposits; jewelry collection worth $153,089, which is the smallest and cheapest of the former first lady’s three jewelry collections; $42 million Arelma account; and Mrs. Marcos’ entire wardrobe collection, including shoes and perfumes.
