1. CLAIMS
1. A 2003 court ruling proves that Marcoses failed to justify the acquisition of their assets
which exceeds their salaries as public officials
Total known assets seized from the Marcos family are way above the legitimate income they
earned during the time they occupied Malacanang, computed in a 2003 Philippine Supreme
Court (SC) ruling at only US$304,372.43. The Marcoses failed to show proof of other legitimate
sources of their wealth, thus the High Court used this to declare the family’s Swiss deposits as
ill-gotten. On July 5, 2003, the SC ruled in favor of the Philippine government in a forfeiture
case filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in 1987 against the
Marcoses.
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/wealth-marcos-family-accumulated-filipino-taxes.
2. Imelda did not win every corruption case thrown at her.
Apart from losing the recent criminal case at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, she lost in
number of local and overseas cases involving the loot she and her husband, the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, amassed during their rule from 1965 to 1986. For instance, on December 21,
1990, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court affirmed a prosecutor’s findings that the Marcoses hid
$356 million in Swiss banks through dubious foundations during their two-decade rule. The
money was then held in escrow by the Philippine National Bank in 1999. In 1993, Imelda
Marcos was convicted of two counts of graft over anomalous contracts involving a lease
between the Light Rail Transit Authority and the Philippine General Hospital Foundation. But
the Supreme Court acquitted her in 1988.
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/false-no-proof-ferdinand-imelda-marcos-stole-billions-
filipinos.
3. In 2003, the Philippine Supreme Court granted the forfeiture of the million Swiss
deposits of the Marcoses.
The PCGG filed a petition for forfeiture against Marcos assets under the Forfeiture Law for
violations of the Anti-Graft Law. Switzerland acknowledge the validity of the Philippine
judgment. The 2003 judgment, however, did not include the Arelma shares. It was only in 2014
that the Supreme Court upheld with the finality the forfeiture of the Panamanian firm Arelma
2. Foundation of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos which was deposited in the United States.
The appeal was in connection with the 2009 decision of the Sandiganbayan declaring that all
assets, properties and so-called Arelma funds are among the ill-gotten wealth of the late
dictator and should be forfeited in favor of the government.
https://newslab.philstar.com/31-years-of-amnesia/never-convicted.
4. Ferdinand Marcos entitled as the most corrupt Philippine president.
Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines as a dictatorship from 1972 to 1986, is
remembered for the thousands of human rights violations he committed, as well as his massive
corruption. Indeed, Marcos holds the dubious title of being the most corrupt Philippine
president, and has been identified in one study as the second most corrupt government leader
in the world, as measured by the value of public assets he stole. The profligacy of Ferdinand
Marcos and his wife Imelda-even at a time when the Philippines was spiraling into recession
and a debt crisis-was shameless, and symbolized by Imelda’s 2700 pairs of shoes and
extravagant shopping sprees.
https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2018/01/15/remembering-ferdinand-marcos-history-of-
corruption-is-relevant-to-the-philippines-present-anticorruption-efforts/.
5. Philippine Armed Forces is Marcos one of the most important source of power and
money.
During his 20 years in power, President Ferdinand Marcos has transformed the military into a
major force in Philippine politics. Formerly modest both in numbers and in influence, the
Armed Forces of the Philippines has tripled in size under Mr. Marcos, and its commanders have
acquired unprecedented political power. But political power has not translated into military
forces: The armed forces have failed to check the growth of the communist insurgency. The
Philippine military’s main spurt of growth came with the declaration of martial law in
September 1972, when it emerged as one of the pillars of Marcos’s New Society. Senior officers
became mayors, governors, and heads of government corporations. They also amassed
considerable wealth. Marcos critics inside and outside the armed forces say that military
commanders were chosen on the basis of their personal allegiance to the President rather than
to the Constitution. And, officers themselves now say, the military played a large part in fixing
post-martial-law elections. Marcos’s new military structure was created by Gen. Fabian Ver,
armed forces chief of staff and Marcos’s relative and principal bodyguard.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/1986/0122/zver.html.
3. 6. In 1978, while the Malacan Palace was being rebuilt, the First Lady Imelda Marcos, on
the third floor of the Main Palace of the highest office of the land, opened a disco.
It was designed in the aesthetic of the era obsessed with glamour: lots of wooden panels and
reflected spaces, and clear glass walls by the entrance to afford the guests a stately view of the
Pasig River, and towards the end, the other half of the room, walls of glass mirrors. The disco
would be the venue for Imelda’s after-parties, were international VIPs-from Doris Duke to
Agnellis of Italy-aristicrats, Hollywood stars, models and designers, and local actors would end
up after a very formal dinner at the Heroes Hall, or a Bagong Anyo fashion show at the palace
grounds. Cabinet ministers would come partying, and Imelda’s Blue Ladies would show up in
full force, staying up as long as their queen-famously an insomniac-was up and about. When
the disco in the palace opened in 1978, Saturday Night Fever had just exploded worldwide the
year before, making disco music even more popular. Along with the glamour lifestyle it came
with. The idea of a disco in the most distinguished office of the land may sound shocking to
some even now, or a tad impractical to others but for Imelda it was the most natural thing.
https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/opinion/party-time-at-the-palace-a1549-20160825-lfrm2.
7. In 1993, Imelda Marcos goes on trial in the Philippines for corruption and is found
guilty.
Imelda R. Marcos was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison. The
conviction came seven years after she and her husband, Ferdinand Marcos, were hounded out
of the Philippines in a popular uprising. Mrs. Marcos clutched a rosary as her sentence was read
in a special anti-corruption court. Outside she packed courtroom, crowd of her supporters held
a vigil; opposite them, hundreds of anti-Marcos protester cheered the former First Lady’s
conviction. The sentence includes permanent disqualification from public office. Mrs. Marcos
ran for president but lost. 100 more charges remain. Mrs. Marcos is facing more than 100 other
corruption charges in Philippine courts. Several cases involve $350 million allegedly held by the
Marcoses in Swiss banks. The Swiss federal tribunal ruled in December 1990 that the money
would be returned to Manila only if a Philippine court convicted Mrs. Marcos in a fair trial. The
government estimates the Marcos family’s wealth to be $5 billion.
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/24/world/marcos-convicted-of-graft-in-manila.html.
8. February 1986, The Marcos family flees to Hawaii after the Filipino oust Ferdinand
Marcos from office.
Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines ending 20 years. Mr. Marcos, facing pressure from all
sides to step down, left the presidential palace and traveled by helicopter to Clark Air Base.
4. There, accompanied by his wife, Imelda, and Gen. Fabian C. Ver, a close associate and
former chief of the Philippines military forces, he boarded an American Air Force for Guam.
Greeted by Acting Governor Mr. Marcos arrived at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, where
he was greeted by Acting Gov. Edward D. Reyes. According to a Defense Department
spokesman in Washington, Mr. Marcos was to leave Guam for unspecified air base near
Honolulu. The departure of Mr. Marcos from Manila ended a day in which he pleaded with
Washington for help in clinging to office, then went through an inaugural ceremony that
was held apparently after he decided to leave.
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/26/world/marcos-flees-and-is-taken-to-guam-us-recognizes-
aquino-as-president.html.
9. Marcos launches a fashion line “ The Imelda Collection”
After rummaging through her long history as a self-styled beauty icon, Imelda Marcos has
launched a line of costume jewelry recycled from the less expensive bits of her own collection.
The former first lady of the Philippines, famous for amassing shoes by the hundreds and gems
the size of grapes, has tuned old buttons, beads, pearls, shells and embroidery into necklaces,
brooches and bracelets with a modern touch. She is accused of looting up to $13 billion from
her impoverished country together with her late husband. During the height of the Marcos
regime, Filipinos coined the world “Imeldifico” to describe acts of excess. But Marcos says the
Imelda Collection is worthless because most of it is coming from garbage and priceless because
it comes from the creativity and ingenuity of every human soul. The 77-year-old, who is often
seen at high-society events in Manila, currently faces dozen of criminal and civil cases but
denies the charges. She accuses successive Philippine governments of persecuting her into
near-poverty.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-11-19/marcos-launches-worthless-priceless-jewellery-
line/1312642.
5. 10. Marcos goes on trial in New York for racketeering and fraud cases.
Imelda Marcos, the widow of the former Philippine President, was acquitted of charges that she
raided the country’s treasury and invested the money in the United States. The Marcoses were
charged with racketeering and fraud in stealing more than $200 million from the Philippine
treasury and investing most of it in jewels, art and four pieces of prime Manhattan real estate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-11-19/marcos-launches-worthless-priceless-jewellery-
line/1312642.
11. Ferdinand Marcos associate with the Westinghouse Corporation to build first Nuclear
Power Plant in the Philippine.
The Bataan Power Plant (BNPP) is one of the six nuclear power plants that the Marcos regime
planned to build. It stands in Morong, Bataan, atop Napot Point that overlooks the West
Philippine Sea. Construction of the BNPP began in 1976 and was completed in 1985.
Controversy surrounding the BNPP began well after its construction. In 1974, National Power
was already negotiating with General Electric to get the order. However, Westinghouse,
another energy company, hired a lobbyist: Herminio Disni, a friend of Ferdinand Marcos. Using
his proximity to Marcos, Westinghouse made a direct offer to Marcos and his cabinet to supply
a plant with two 620 MW reactors at a base price of $500 million because of other charges like
fuel and transmission lines. Soon after, the negotiations with General Electric were scrapped,
and Westinghouse won the deal. By March 1975, Westinghouse’s contract price increased to
$1.1 billion for interest and escalation costs.
https://www.wikizero.com/en/Ferdinand_Marcos.
12. The Marcos family and their cronies looted so much wealth from the Philippines.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government has estimated that Marcos stole around $5
to $10 billion from the Philippine treasury during his presidency from 1965 to 1986, while
earning an annual salary equivalent to only US$13,500.00. Adjusted for inflation, this would be
equivalent to about US$11.16 to US$22.3 billion or over 550 billion to 1.1 trillion Philippine
pesos in 2017. Among the sources of the Marcos wealth are alleged to be diverted foreign
economic aid, US Government military aid, including huge discretionary funds at Marcos
disposal as a “reward” for sending some Filipino troops to Vietnam, and kickbacks from public
works contracts over a 2-decades-long rule. In 1990 Imelda Marcos, his widow, was acquitted
of charges that she raided the Philippine’s treasury and invested the money in the United States
by a US jury. In 1993, she was convicted of graft in Manila for entering into three unfavorable
lease contracts between a Government-run transportation agency and another government-
6. run hospital. In 1998, the Philippine Supreme Court overturned the previous conviction of
Imelda Marcos and acquitted her of corruption charges.
https://www.wikizero.com/en/Ferdinand_Marcos.
