BY JAMES KONSTANTIN GALVEZ REPORTER
MALACAÑANG on Monday expressed support for an amicable settlement of cases involving alleged ill-gotten wealth of late former President Ferdinand Marcos and his family, and sale by public auction of the jewelry of former First Lady Imelda Marcos as proposed by Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Commissioner Ricardo Abcede.
“We support the pursuit of this process in order for us to move on. We can’t allow these valuable assets to sleep and be frozen inside the Central Bank forever,” deputy spokesman Gary Olivar said during a press briefing in the Palace.
The cases against the Marcoses have been pending since the creation of the PCGG in 1986, when Marcos was ousted in a popular uprising.
“After 25 years since the Marcoses left the country, people tend to forget what the real reason behind the establishment of the PCGG is. This is one of the duties of the commission—to liquidate the jewelry and property acquired from the Marcoses, and bring [them] back to the country,” Olivar said.
He urged the PCGG to make sure that the auction will be transparent to avoid suspicion from people, especially the families of victims of human-rights violations during the Marcos administration.
The Imelda jewelry trove being kept at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas vault includes pieces recovered in Malacañang in 1986, those seized by US authorities when the Marcoses landed in Hawaii after fleeing the country and the Roumeliotes collection confiscated by local authorities that is considered more valuable than the first two batches.
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