Gov’t to sell Marcos jewels after last remaining legal case is settled – DOF

The national government will sell the three jewelry collections seized from former first lady Imelda Marcos once the last remaining legal case is finally resolved, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday.

Finance Undersecretary Grace Karen G. Singson said the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) wants to settle all the legal issues before the government puts the Marcos jewels on the auction block.

“We’re waiting for one case to just settle… but it will be decided soon,” Singson said in an interview at the DOF headquarters.

“We need to raise revenues, so it’s always been part of the privatization plan. We just want to make sure we get the most value because if there’s this legal situation, we might get a much lower valuation,” she added.

The three collections are known as the Malacañang, Roumeliotes, and Hawaii collections. They are now kept in the vaults of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in Manila.

“They have already been appraised but they might do it again because there’s a requirement that the appraisal should be done within one year (before the auction). But Christie’s and Sotheby’s have already did the preliminary,” Singson said.

The inter-agency Privatization Council needs to re-approve the plan to put on sale the pieces of jewelry seized from the family in 1986. “The Privatization Council already approved it before, (but) if it’s more than six months, they have to re-approve it,” Singson said.

Last February, the Supreme Court upheld the partial summary judgment of the Sandiganbayan ordering the forfeiture in favor of the government of the third jewelry set known as the Malacañang Collection.

The value of the collection, composed of smaller and less expensive pieces, was estimated at $110,055 to $153,089.

The Roumeliotes Collection is a set of 60 pieces of jewelry, while the Hawaii Collection consists of 300 pieces of jewelry and other luxury items.

Finance Undersecretary Antoinette C. Tionko had earlier said the government will sell the 300-piece Hawaii Collection, which was confiscated by the US Customs in 1986 after the Marcos family fled to exile during the People Power Revolution in 1986.

Tionko said the PCGG and Privatization and Management Office (PMO) will lead the auction for the Marcos jewels.

In 2016, the Privatization Council approved the sale of the Hawaii jewelry, said to be at least 11 billion, based on appraisals from auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

The collection includes a 25-carat “extremely rare” pink diamond believed to be previously owned by a Mogul emperor, which was estimated to be worth at least $5 million or around 1237 million.

Based on a memorandum from the DOF-led Privatization Council, the minimum bid price for the jewelry is set at $14 million, equivalent to 1658 million.

In November, 2015, the Bureau of Customs and the PCGG had the three Marcos jewelry collections appraised by Christie’s and rival Sotheby’s.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said the sale of the Hawaii Collection will proceed as planned after the Marcos family voluntarily relinquished ownership of this particular jewelry set.

“Proceeds from the sale will go to the Bureau of the Treasury and PCGG,” Beltran said. “The sale of this jewelry was deferred during the previous administration because of lack of time.”