SNIPPETS from Lapsus Calami are always thought-provoking and often result in further analysis in an attempt to find out what is really going on.
A recent piece mentioned that former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista is now living in the United States.
Bautista’s estranged wife Patricia had gained access to some of his bank account records. As a result, she accused him of illegally acquiring nearly P1 billion.
We should remember that before Bautista became Comelec chairman, he was responsible for the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). Were some of his allegedly ill-gotten gains acquired during his tenure at PCGG?
In 2013, Vilma Bautista, a former aide of Imelda Marcos, was sentenced in New York to six years’ imprisonment for tax evasion. She had omitted to pay tax on an artwork previously in her possession entitled Waterlilies by Claude Monet. This fetched $43 million at auction of which Vilma obtained $32 million. The remaining $11 million, suspiciously high, was obtained by the auctioneer and other intermediaries.
We do not have proof as to what happened to the $32 million. This needs to be investigated.
I am not aware that there has been many, if any, connections between the government and the US Ambassador to the Philippines, Sun Kim. This is regrettable since it is not clear to the extent to which the Philippines has made representations to the US that the artworks, of which there were considerable number stored in a warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, were Marcos loot. Official representations should have been made so that the artworks are considered part of Philippine sovereignty.
Accounts of recent events are unclear but if the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the PCCG are to be believed, the recent decisions taken in New York about the deployment of $20 million proceeds from a November 2018 auction of further Marcos-possessed artworks, have been made without reference to any Philippine government instrumentality.
The US is not always renowned for its unbounded respect for other countries’ sovereignty but surely the Philippines was involved. This is likely to have been the PCCG. If this is the case, then to prevent further controversy, PCGG needs to admit the truth.
As things stand, OSG Solicitor-General Jose Calida said he was not consulted about the November 2018 auction and not involved in the deployment of $20 million, $13.75 million of which was allocated to Atty. Robert Swift, an American lawyer who is paying out P77,500 to each of around 6,500 clients who suffered under the Marcos regime.
The OSG reportedly sent PNP officers to Caraga to prevent the payout which took place on May 1 to 140 claimants. The PNP is put into a difficult position and it is not clear, at the time of writing, as to whether Swift will be able to continue with the payouts.
The Commission on Audit should conduct a belated attempt to find out what has happened to the $32 million obtained by Vilma Bautista. We guess around $7 million went to pay New York City and New York State taxes. What about the remaining $25 million? Patricia Bautista has her own ideas but further work needs to be carried out.
Follow the money!/PN
