Imelda Marcos gets jail term for graft
Philippine ex-first lady tipped to appeal
MANILA: A Philippine court yesterday sentenced Imelda Marcos, the country’s flamboyant former first lady, to a minimum of 42 years in prison for creating private foundations to hide her unexplained wealth.
But it is unlikely that Marcos, a 89-yearold widow, will see any jail time. The court, which handles graft and public corruption cases, said the ruling could be appealed, and legal experts have said Marcos could fight a prison sentence because of her advanced age.
The sentence comes as Marcos and her family have seen a political resurgence in the Philippines, having gained favour under the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.
The court found Marcos guilty of seven counts of graft, with each count punishable by a minimum of six years in prison. The ruling also automatically disqualifies her from holding any public office.
Marcos did not appear in court for the sentencing. She was given a month to explain her absence.
The lengthy sentence drew praise from some leading opponents of Mr Duterte, who has in the past praised the brutal dictatorship of Marcos’ deceased husband, Ferdinand Marcos.
Loretta Ann Rosales, the country’s former human rights commissioner, who was tortured as an activist in the 1970s for opposing Ferdinand Marcos, called the sentence a symbolic victory for the thousands who died resisting the dictatorship.
“I am literally jumping with joy,” Ms Rosales said in an interview. She said the ruling showed that there were still public corruption judges “who have helped keep the candles lit through these dark nights and pursued the truth.”
She said the ruling also proved that the Marcoses and their cronies were guilty of raiding government coffers in order to enjoy a lavish lifestyle while millions of Filipinos lived in poverty.
Neither Imelda Marcos nor her lawyers could immediately be reached for comment.
The charges against Marcos took more than a quarter-century to prosecute, largely because many people who could have been witnesses had died or were too old to testify.
The charges were filed in 1991, when state prosecutors accused her of creating private foundations in Switzerland and having financial interests in several companies when she was governor of Manila between 1978 and 1984. Prosecutors said the fake firms hid money that her family stole from the government.
The prosecutors wrapped up their presentation in 2015, but Marcos’ lawyers successfully delayed the hearings.
Among those who testified against Marcos was Frank Chaves, the country’s late solicitor general, who filed a sworn statement that said Marcos had used the foundations in Switzerland to hide millions of dollars of stolen wealth.
The government recovered some US$658 million (21.7 billion baht) that the Marcoses held in Swiss financial institutions. But officials believe that is just a fraction of the roughly $10 billion they say the Marcoses stole from the Philippines.
Ferdinand Marcos’ two-decade rule was ended by the 1986 “people power” revolution. The Marcoses were sent into exile in Hawaii, where Ferdinand Marcos died three years later.