SikhSpectrum.com Quarterly Issue No. 14, November 2003
Swiss ruling paves way for release of looted Marcos funds
Danny Chan
A Swiss government agency has approved a $683-million transfer of seized Marcos funds to the Philippine government. The Swiss Ministry of Justice’s ruling paves the way for the Philippine government to begin compensation payments to victims of Marcos-era crimes.
The money, currently held in escrow at the government-owned Philippine National Bank, will be disbursed after a congressional bill on compensation to Marcos victims is codified into law, according to a member of the Presidential Commission on Good Government. The Swiss justice ministry’s Aug. 5 ruling is predicated on Manila’s commitment “that it will compensate the victims of Marcos”.
Ruben Carranza of the good-government commission said the Swiss decision clears the way for the Philippine government to acquire the money.
“As far as the Swiss authorities are concerned, the freeze on the funds in the Philippine National Bank does not exist anymore,” he said. “What we’ll do is we will discuss the matter with PNB so that PNB can transfer the account to the Philippine government.”
Marcos-era victims lauded the Swiss decision as “a historic victory for the Filipino people”.
“For the 9,539 victims of the Marcos martial rule, it draws them nearer to their long overdue compensation,” Rod Domingo, an attorney for Marcos-era victims, said. “It is now up to congress to pass a valid and constitutional law which can withstand legal security.”
The widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, along with their children Ferdinand Jr, Imee and Irene, filed an appeal to the Supreme Court stating they were deprived of due process. Imelda Marcos, the former first lady, filed a motion for reconsideration, alleging the high court’s decision should have been remanded to the Sandiganbayan. Her motion claims the Supreme Court “improperly converted the (government’s) special civil action into a regular appeal … divested (Mrs Marcos) of her right to appeal the case on the merits, thereby depriving her of due process”. The government had earlier recommended the decision be made final, precluding any right of appeal.
Irene Marcos’s petition disputed the forfeiture law’s presumptive nature, stating she should be permitted to show “that the subject property was nonetheless lawfully acquired”.
The Marcoses further denounced the government’s disregard of their right to due process and that the state failed to provide “one iota of evidence” concerning the acquisition of the funds. Attorneys for the Marcoses said the family would still seek redress before the Swiss tribunal. Manuel and Michelle Lazaro, lawyers for Imee Marcos and Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said in a statement that the Zurich Federal Office of Justice exceeded their mandate in handing down their decision.
“The Zurich Federal Office of Justice is merely a prosecutorial arm of the Swiss government. It is not the Swiss Federal Tribunal. The Zurich Federal Office cannot speak for the Swiss Federal Tribunal,” the statement read. The Marcoses’ lawyers also said they would bring to the Swiss court’s attention the “numerous and various infringements” against their decision.
The Swiss Ministry of Justice’s ruling comes after the Philippine Supreme Court ruled on July 15 that the Marcoses could not have amassed the funds legally. Following the ruling, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced P8 billion would be awarded as damages to Marcos-era victims. An amendment to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law is also pending in the House. The bill seeks to revise the agrarian law to allow for a $200-million disbursement to victims; without a revision, all the money would go to farm development.
Following the Marcoses’ ouster in 1986, accounts worth approximately $356 million were discovered and seized by the Swiss government, representing the largest-ever cache of looted Marcos wealth uncovered. Switzerland’s highest court, the Federal Tribunal, approved the transfer of funds in 1990 on condition that the Philippines reach a “final and absolute” judgment. The tribunal then declared in 1997 that the funds were ill-gotten and allowed their transfer to an escrow account at the Philippine National Bank.
