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| Southeast Asia |
| Marcos’ Accounts Awarded to Philippines |
| 2003-07-16 |
| MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday awarded the government hundreds of millions of dollars from the Swiss bank deposits of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The Swiss accounts, valued at $658 million more than a year ago, make up the largest amount recovered from the billions of dollars the Marcoses allegedly amassed while in office. The decision reversed an anti-graft court’s earlier ruling that the money was in the name of several foundations, and that the government had not fully established that they belonged to the Marcos family. ``In the face of undeniable circumstances and the avalanche of documentary evidence against them, respondent Marcoses failed to justify the lawful nature of their acquisition of the said assets,’’ the court said in a 100-page ruling. ``Hence, the Swiss deposits should be considered ill-gotten wealth and forfeited in favor of the State.’’ Marcos was president from 1966 until a popular revolt ousted him in February 1986. He and his family went into exile in Hawaii, where he died three years later without admitting wrongdoing. A Swiss court transferred around $570 million in Marcos deposits in 1999 to the Philippine National Bank, which has been holding them in escrow pending a final resolution. The amount has grown with interest. The anti-graft court earlier determined that the combined salaries of Marcos and his wife - who served as metropolitan Manila’s governor and minister of human settlements - were equivalent to only about $304,300 during Marcos’ 20-year rule. Time wounds all heals. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 "But what the hell do we do with all these damn shoes?" |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-7-16 10:28:46 AM |