OPINION
JP Fenix
Bongbong Marcos Perpetuates The Crimes Of Ferdinand And Imelda
THE SUPREME Court of the Philippines ruled that over P25 Billion worth of Marcos assets were considered ill-gotten wealth. This followed a near two-decade legal struggle between the Philippine Government and the Marcos Family over the custody of these assets, kept in various Swiss bank accounts.
The High Court stated that Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos had legally earned a mere US$304,000 for just over two decades from 1965 to 1986, during his tenure as president of the Philippines and her positions in government in those days. But it was subsequently revealed that the Marcoses questionably got at least US$950,000 which they deposited in four bank accounts in Credit Suisse Bank in Switzerland on March 20 and 21, 1968. And that was just startup money – the tip of the iceberg.
The Supreme Court determined that, like other funds they deposited in Switzerland, this was “money stolen by the Marcos spouses from the Republic.” The Supreme Court said the money in these accounts were then transferred in March 1970 to new accounts under a stiftung (German for a private foundation) called ‘Xandy’ created in Liechtenstein. BONGBONG MARCOS was specifically named as one of the beneficiaries of this nearly US$1Million account.
The Marcos couple's only son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. was 13 years old in March 1970 when Xandy was created to hide much money in banks in Switzerland. But 16 years later, in March 18, 1986, Bongbong Marcos, at 30 years old, tried to close all the remaining Marcos ‘stiftungs’ and attempted to transfer all the money from the Marcos Swiss bank accounts in the name of these foundations. The purpose was to evade the “freeze” ordered on these accounts by the Swiss government. Bongbong was an adult, and in fact a government official and a commissioned military officer in his father's dictatorship. Bongbong was aware of these money-laundering efforts because in Hawaii he met with banker Michael De Guzman for the purpose of moving the Marcos funds.
De Guzman was working in a secret plan to recover the funds in the Marcos’ Swiss Banks called “Operation Big Bird” authorized by the new government of President Cory Aquino. All these events and documents are well documented in the Presidential Commission for Good Government (PCGG), the court cases all the way up to the Supreme Court, in local and international media and in House of Representatives' Committee on Public Accountability in mid-1989, under the Chairmanship of Cong. Victorico "Concoy" Chaves (2nd District, Misamis Oriental).
Ferdinand Marcos used and signed the name “William Saunders” and wife Imelda signed and used the name “Jane Ryan” to open those accounts in 1968. Ferdinand refused to answer when asked this very question during a court trial in the US. Bongbong was questioned in the Hawaii court about his family’s efforts to transfer assets.
In 1995 Bongbong had a contempt of court judgment, affirmed in 2012 and extended until 2031, ordering him to pay over US$356 Million as penalty. If unsettled he risks being again dragged to court or even jail. This is why Bongbong has not been back to the US since 2005.
It will be interesting to see Bongbong, who aspires to be president this year, face the international community – especially the US – in APEC summits and other such official gatherings and functions. State visits, too.
Ruben Carranza, former PCGG commissioner, recalls in his social media posts that at the Sandiganbayan and at the Supreme Court Bongbong Marcos was asked: “What kind of assets are in these Swiss bank accounts? Just cash?”
Bongbong replied: “Anything under the Marcos name in any of the banks in Switzerland … which may be not cash.” This, Carranza said, was a clear indication that he knew the existence of these assets and where they are hidden.
With Ferdinand and Imelda legally earning just US$304,000 from 1965 to 1986, it's a wonder how they supported Bongbong's tuition at Oxford and for the expensive English boarding school accommodation, food and parties he hosted in the UK from 1975 to 1978. Despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars cost to pay for all that expense, Bongbong only received a mere “diploma” of having “matriculated” but not an actual Oxford degree.
Further on, Bongbong supposedly studied at Wharton School in Pennsylvania, USA, while sister Imee supposedly studied at Princeton. They had two separate million-dollar mansions in New Jersey purchased by the family, with the furnishings alone costing US$5 Million. Bongbong was getting $10,000 a month allowance while in Wharton but still never graduated.
Carranza pointed out that a President swears under the Constitution to “execute its laws” and the Supreme Court decisions are part of “the law of the land”, and therefore Bongbong and his family must surrender every house, every painting, every piece of expensive jewelry, every bank account local and foreign, that they ever had and still have.
On the 2022 campaign trail Bongbong claims now that he will “strengthen the PCGG” to go after corruption if he is elected president. Since the PCGG is, by law, meant to go after ‘ill-gotten wealth’, Carranza emphasized Bongbong must likewise include his and his own family’s ill-gotten wealth which has been definitively ruled by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in its 2003 decision says that this “Ill-gotten” wealth is “money stolen by the Marcos spouses from the Republic,” yet Bongbong Marcos continues to deny this and spends millions of dollars in doing so, including undertaking and intensive campaign by hiring American agency Cambridge Analytica to rebrand his and the Marcos family’s image by spreading lies and revising Philippine history. No less than former Cambridge Analytica employee-turned-whistleblower Brittany Kaiser says the now-defunct firms' CEO saw Boongbong Marcos’ engagement of the firm as a “financial opportunity” despite other staff objecting to taking on the project.
Millions of pesos are being spent on his campaign for the revision of history to cleanse his family name and image as well as internet and social media trolls, clickfarms, and production and dissemination of fake news.
The Philippine Constitution says that “the State (can) recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials, from them or from their transferees” and that this recovery of ill-gotten wealth “shall not be barred by” time or any deadlines, Carranza pointed out.
The former PCGG commissioner concludes his social media posts: even as president, Bongbong Marcos will not free his family – his wife, sons and many generations after – from continuous investigation and law suits or even charges of money-laundering of ill-gotten wealth forever in the Philippines and even outside the country.
The High Court stated that Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos had legally earned a mere US$304,000 for just over two decades from 1965 to 1986, during his tenure as president of the Philippines and her positions in government in those days. But it was subsequently revealed that the Marcoses questionably got at least US$950,000 which they deposited in four bank accounts in Credit Suisse Bank in Switzerland on March 20 and 21, 1968. And that was just startup money – the tip of the iceberg.
The Supreme Court determined that, like other funds they deposited in Switzerland, this was “money stolen by the Marcos spouses from the Republic.” The Supreme Court said the money in these accounts were then transferred in March 1970 to new accounts under a stiftung (German for a private foundation) called ‘Xandy’ created in Liechtenstein. BONGBONG MARCOS was specifically named as one of the beneficiaries of this nearly US$1Million account.
The Marcos couple's only son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. was 13 years old in March 1970 when Xandy was created to hide much money in banks in Switzerland. But 16 years later, in March 18, 1986, Bongbong Marcos, at 30 years old, tried to close all the remaining Marcos ‘stiftungs’ and attempted to transfer all the money from the Marcos Swiss bank accounts in the name of these foundations. The purpose was to evade the “freeze” ordered on these accounts by the Swiss government. Bongbong was an adult, and in fact a government official and a commissioned military officer in his father's dictatorship. Bongbong was aware of these money-laundering efforts because in Hawaii he met with banker Michael De Guzman for the purpose of moving the Marcos funds.
De Guzman was working in a secret plan to recover the funds in the Marcos’ Swiss Banks called “Operation Big Bird” authorized by the new government of President Cory Aquino. All these events and documents are well documented in the Presidential Commission for Good Government (PCGG), the court cases all the way up to the Supreme Court, in local and international media and in House of Representatives' Committee on Public Accountability in mid-1989, under the Chairmanship of Cong. Victorico "Concoy" Chaves (2nd District, Misamis Oriental).
Ferdinand Marcos used and signed the name “William Saunders” and wife Imelda signed and used the name “Jane Ryan” to open those accounts in 1968. Ferdinand refused to answer when asked this very question during a court trial in the US. Bongbong was questioned in the Hawaii court about his family’s efforts to transfer assets.
In 1995 Bongbong had a contempt of court judgment, affirmed in 2012 and extended until 2031, ordering him to pay over US$356 Million as penalty. If unsettled he risks being again dragged to court or even jail. This is why Bongbong has not been back to the US since 2005.
It will be interesting to see Bongbong, who aspires to be president this year, face the international community – especially the US – in APEC summits and other such official gatherings and functions. State visits, too.
Ruben Carranza, former PCGG commissioner, recalls in his social media posts that at the Sandiganbayan and at the Supreme Court Bongbong Marcos was asked: “What kind of assets are in these Swiss bank accounts? Just cash?”
Bongbong replied: “Anything under the Marcos name in any of the banks in Switzerland … which may be not cash.” This, Carranza said, was a clear indication that he knew the existence of these assets and where they are hidden.
With Ferdinand and Imelda legally earning just US$304,000 from 1965 to 1986, it's a wonder how they supported Bongbong's tuition at Oxford and for the expensive English boarding school accommodation, food and parties he hosted in the UK from 1975 to 1978. Despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars cost to pay for all that expense, Bongbong only received a mere “diploma” of having “matriculated” but not an actual Oxford degree.
Further on, Bongbong supposedly studied at Wharton School in Pennsylvania, USA, while sister Imee supposedly studied at Princeton. They had two separate million-dollar mansions in New Jersey purchased by the family, with the furnishings alone costing US$5 Million. Bongbong was getting $10,000 a month allowance while in Wharton but still never graduated.
Carranza pointed out that a President swears under the Constitution to “execute its laws” and the Supreme Court decisions are part of “the law of the land”, and therefore Bongbong and his family must surrender every house, every painting, every piece of expensive jewelry, every bank account local and foreign, that they ever had and still have.
On the 2022 campaign trail Bongbong claims now that he will “strengthen the PCGG” to go after corruption if he is elected president. Since the PCGG is, by law, meant to go after ‘ill-gotten wealth’, Carranza emphasized Bongbong must likewise include his and his own family’s ill-gotten wealth which has been definitively ruled by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court in its 2003 decision says that this “Ill-gotten” wealth is “money stolen by the Marcos spouses from the Republic,” yet Bongbong Marcos continues to deny this and spends millions of dollars in doing so, including undertaking and intensive campaign by hiring American agency Cambridge Analytica to rebrand his and the Marcos family’s image by spreading lies and revising Philippine history. No less than former Cambridge Analytica employee-turned-whistleblower Brittany Kaiser says the now-defunct firms' CEO saw Boongbong Marcos’ engagement of the firm as a “financial opportunity” despite other staff objecting to taking on the project.
Millions of pesos are being spent on his campaign for the revision of history to cleanse his family name and image as well as internet and social media trolls, clickfarms, and production and dissemination of fake news.
The Philippine Constitution says that “the State (can) recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials, from them or from their transferees” and that this recovery of ill-gotten wealth “shall not be barred by” time or any deadlines, Carranza pointed out.
The former PCGG commissioner concludes his social media posts: even as president, Bongbong Marcos will not free his family – his wife, sons and many generations after – from continuous investigation and law suits or even charges of money-laundering of ill-gotten wealth forever in the Philippines and even outside the country.
May 4, 2022
