Manila – President Rodrigo Duterte gave a green light to the auction of P704.8-million worth of jewelry collection seized from former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Thursday said Duterte has approved the proposal of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to sell the seized jewelry.
“Sabi ni Presidente gusto niya na makinabang ang mga taong bayan dun sa mga jewelry. So tinanong ko siya, ‘are you going to give your go signal to sell?’ Yes. Basta ang kailangan makarating sa taumbayan ‘yung sale, ‘yung proceeds,” Panelo said.
However, Panelo did not give a timeline when the President will release the order authorizing the auction of the seized jewelry collections from the former first lady, which are currently kept in the vault of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
One of the seized jewelry collections dubbed as “The Hawaii Collection” was apprehended from the family of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos as they fled to the United States in 1986 following his ouster in Feb. 1986.
The jewelries were part of the around P1-billion worth of assets seized from the Marcoses and their cronies that are yet to be disposed by the PCGG.
Other properties include real estate worth P336-million and shares of stock in various companies amounting to P40.35-million.
During his two-decade rule that started in 1965, Ferdinand Marcos oversaw a martial rule marked by serious human rights violations and supposedly managed to amass an estimated $5-billion to $10-billion from government coffers. /PN
