Press Release
March 20, 2006

MARCOSES MUST FIRST RENDER FULL DISCLOSURE OF WEALTH
BEFORE COMPROMISE IS FORGED

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the government must first demand a full disclosure from the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcoses of the extent of the wealth subject of the compromise agreement before it is done.

Pimentel said it would be unwise for the government to forge an out-of-court settlement with the Marcoses if they refuse to reveal the value of the assets that are under their possession and control.

I find nothing wrong with the governments efforts to work out a compromise deal with the Marcoses but I think it would only be fair if the totality of the wealth of the late strongman is first determined, he said.

The compromise deal is being negotiated by the Presidential Commission on Good Government, under Chairman Camilo Sabio, in a bid to hasten the recovery of the Marcos loot in view of the inordinately long time it is taking the courts to resolve the ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses.

Pimentel rejected a reported plan of the PCGG to allow the Marcoses to keep 30 percent of the plundered wealth that they will be covered by the out-of-court settlement. This means the government will have 70 percent share.

Pimentel suggested that the Marcos should be allowed to retain only 10 percent of the money.

He said a 30 percent share for the Marcoses would be too big and can by no means be justified considering the length of time the Marcoses and their cronies had enjoyed the perks that money could buy.

The government scored its biggest achievement in recovering the ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman when it took possession of about $630 million Marcos bank deposits from Swiss banks in 2003.

Pimentel said investigations conducted by the PCGG under previous administrations revealed that the bulk of the Marcos wealth is stashed away in banks and investment houses in foreign countries.

As chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee during the 11th Congress, Pimentel conducted a lengthy inquiry into the Marcos wealth issue.

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