Sen. Bongbong Marcos with sisters Irene and Imee and their mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos in a recent gathering. Photo posted on Facebook bearing Sen. Marco’s name
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday refused to talk about his family’s Swiss accounts containing millions of dollars in alleged stolen wealth that was recovered by the Philippine government.
Marcos steered clear of any talk about the forfeiture of his family’s Swiss accounts, saying the family is no longer sending any lawyer to the proceedings.
“Which Swiss accounts are these? All of these cases, we, the Marcos family has no longer been represented and we have not argued it in court anymore for many years now. We don’t send lawyers,” he said.
He added that he himself does not have a Swiss account.
The Philippine government earlier said President Marcos stole an estimated $10 billion from the nation’s coffers during his 20-year rule. In 1997, the Federal Court of Switzerland ordered that the secret Marcos accounts in Swiss banks be transferred to the Republic of the Philippines but subject to certain conditions.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government said it has recovered over US$4 billion so far in Marcos’s stolen wealth including real estate, investment bank accounts, shareholdings and other assets.
Some of the assets are invested in prime New York real estate, jewellery, and about $600 million stashed in secret numbered Swiss bank accounts.
NO HUMAN RIGHTS CASES
In the interview, Marcos also steered clear of the law to provide compensation to victims of human rights violations during the dictatorship of his late father.
He said the Marcos family is not involved in the compensation of rights victims.
Asked if he will question the move to use his family’s seized assets, amounting to P10 billion, to compensate the victims, he said: “I don’t think it serves much purpose. The decisions in court have been made. It’s a question of implementing it. The judgments have been made. As far as the Marcos family is concerned, the judgments against us are there and that’s the end of it.”
Still, the senator said the human rights commission had given them a certification that said “there are no human rights cases against any of us.”
The Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013 was signed on February 25 last year.
The bill provides a two-year period within which to distribute the money to human rights victims.(MNS)