Duterte questions ill gotten-wealth claim vs Marcos

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday expressed doubts over accusations that the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. had ill-gotten wealth.

Mr. Marcos, Sr. and his cronies had been accused of stealing up to $10 billion from state coffers during his 20 years in power, of which some 14 years were under martial rule.

In his speech in Manila last Tuesday, Feb. 26, Mr. Duterte said: “Until now you have not proven anything except to sequester and sell — hindi mo nga sigurado kung talagang kay Marcos ba ‘yan (you do not even know if all those assets were taken by Mr. Marcos). Sabi ko nga (As I said,) there is Ecclesiastes 3. There will be a time to be silent, there will be a time to just say nothing. But there will be a time for reckoning. There’s always a time for war.”

The Marcoses are leading allies of Mr. Duterte, who often cites the support of senatorial candidate and Ilocos Norte Governor Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos, in his presidential campaign in 2016.

“Hindi ako nagkampanya pero nandito naman... Pagka senador, Imee Marcos (I am not campaigning, but since [she is] here — Imee Marcos for Senator),” the President also said in his speech on Tuesday.

The Ilocano Timpuyog political party of Imee Marcos has forged an alliance with Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio’s Hungpong ng Pagbabago.

Mr. Duterte also defended anew his controversial order for the late dictator’s burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery in 2016.

“The law says, sino ang pwedeng ilibing sa Libingan ng mga Bayani? (Who can be buried at the Heroes’ Cemetery? Ang sabi ng batas, sundalo o kaya presidente (soldiers and presidents). That’s the law,” he said.

Mr. Duterte said last year that once he steps down, he would prefer the “likes” of former senator Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. as his successor over his constitutional successor, Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo. He also said he would prefer a military junta to lead the country over Ms. Robredo’s leadership.

However, despite his alliance with the Marcoses, Mr. Duterte himself had ordered in 2017 the release of initial compensation for at least 4,000 martial law victims.

There were at least 75,000 people who were victims of human rights abuses during martial law, according to the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA).

‘NOT FAKE NEWS’

Otso Deretso senatorial candidates, for their part, said the Marcoses’ illgotten wealth is “not fake news.”

Lawyer Jose Manuel I. Diokno said, “Baka nakalimutan ni Pangulo iyong desisyon ng ating

Supreme Court mismo noong

2003 na sinabi nila, ang perang iyan ay ill-gotten wealth. Hindi pera ng mga Marcos iyan, pera ng bayan iyan (Maybe the President has forgotten the 2013 Supreme Court decision that said the money is ill-gotten wealth. The Marcos family does not own that money. It belongs to the people).”

Congressman Gary C. Alejano said, “May biktima, may nawalang bilyong pera, hindi pwedeng walang nagnakaw (There are victims. Billions of money have gone missing. It cannot be that nobody stole the money).”

For her part, Otso Diretso senatorial candidate Samira GutocTomawis said, “Mr. President, you do not have business tinkering with history, especially the part on how the Marcoses amassed money through ill-gotten means, or the atrocities that occurred during their time.”