Who’s afraid of Marcos Jr.?

“The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a crime forgotten, for it was properly done.”

Here in the Philippines, that quote by Honore de Balzac, the French playwright and novelist, may well be tweaked this way –”Behind every great fortune, without apparent cause is a Marcos crony.”

But this is assuming the tales surrounding the Marcoses’ wealth were true.

We’ve all heard about the stories, told and retold like urban legend – that most of the country’s biggest companies today grew to become the mammoth businesses that they are because of their owners’ close ties to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and, therefore, benefited from government policies that helped them grow their business.

More than being favored friends, no less than former first lady Imelda Marcos even said in a damning revelation, way back in 1998, that some of the giant companies in the Philippines indeed belonged to them. The supposed owners merely acted as dummies for the Marcoses, she said. It was a startling revelation back then, something the government, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) had been trying to prove all along.

“We own everything” “We practically own everything in the Philippines,” Imelda Marcos said then, referring to “electricity, telecommunications, airline, banking, beer and tobacco, newspaper publishing, television stations, shipping, oil and mining, hotels and beach resorts, down to coconut milling, small farms, real estate and insurance.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1998).

In her story, she claimed that “up to P1 trillion in equity in more than 100 top Philippine corporations were allegedly entrusted by Marcos to his associates – Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co; San Miguel Corp., United Coconut Planters Bank and Allied Bank, etc.”

One company she was determined to regain at the time was Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), claiming that Marcos had bought it off the Lopez family in 1973.

“The family patriarch, Eugenio Lopez Sr., had indeed signed over Meralco in 1973 to the Marcoses. Why? Because, under the martial law dictatorship, Lopez’s son, Eugenio Jr. was being held by the military. The Marcoses offered to release him in exchange for control of the Lopez fortune...,” according to Murray Horton, Secretary of the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA) in an article published in 1999. Horton was writing about Imelda’s startling revelations.

Imelda Marcos’ claim happened way back in 1998 and many years later, some of today’s taipans and businessmen have already won favorable court decisions, proving their ownership of their respective businesses.

But today, the former first lady’s claims are again casting shadows on some of the country’s biggest companies, especially with Marcos Jr. moving a step closer to Malacañang.

The question going around business circles these days is this – what would Marcos Jr. do with these businesses if he becomes president?

Would he go after his family’s supposed shares in the different corporations? Would that be part of Marcos Jr.’s agenda if he wins?

It’s a valid question and for months now, it’s been making the rounds at dinner tables, business meetings, and golf games.

Tricky

But it’s a tricky move. If Marcos Jr. goes after the shares of stocks or his family’s equity in some corporations, the next question he needs to answer is where his father got the money to amass such holdings?

A mountain of gold

In her story, Imelda Marcos said her husband had a gold hoard of 4,000 tons. She claimed then that Marcos accumulated his first 1,000 tons while he was a guerrilla fighting the Japanese during World War II, said to be part of the legendary Yamashita treasure.

Marcos Jr. would have to prove all this. His father is no longer around, but Imelda Marcos is said to be keeping the documents proving ownership of their shares in the different corporations.

If he decides to go after some of the country’s conglomerates, I am sure the concerned tycoons would bring the matter to court.

They certainly won’t play dead and just roll over. After all, some of them already won favorable rulings in the past and others were given legal immunity for cooperating with the government.

Both sides would have to prove their claims in court and it won’t be easy. As de Balzac said, if a crime was properly done, it is likely to be forgotten.

Only time will tell what will happen with some of these businesses if Marcos Jr. successfully makes his way to Malacañang.

But for sure it’s not going to be business as usual.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is eyesgonzales@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com