Bongbong, Imee seek settlement of ill-gotten wealth cases

The family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos proposed yesterday a compromise settlement of all graft cases being leveled by the government against them, saying attempts to pin them down on the charges would be futile.

"We always said that the only quick and efficient way to get out of this mess is negotiated settlement. Let’s finish them all. They (government lawyers) have not been able to prove their accusations," Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said in the late night talk show "Dong Puno Nightly" where he was a guest along with elder sister Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos.

The Marcos children maintained that the government has no strong evidence against them.

However, Commissioner Victoria Avena of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) which was tasked to recover the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, said the proposal for amicable settlement of the cases should be formalized.

"There have been informal overtures (from the Marcoses) in the past for a settlement, but whenever we make known our conditions, the overtures disappeared," Avena said.

Three major conditions set by the government were full disclosure, surrender of the ill-gotten wealth and public apology.

The PCGG believed that the Marcoses looted the national coffers of some $10 billion. At least 37 graft cases have been filed against them before the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court.

"It’s been 15 years, but they have not presented strong evidence. Maybe, it’s about time that we talk this out," Imee said.

The Marcos children also batted for a review of the circumstances surrounding the proclamation of martial law, saying only history can judge their father.

Bongbong deplored that term dictator being attached to his father.

"We can’t accept that, but here in the Philippines, it’s what the people need. If you’ll analyze it, politically, all the political heavyweights now have really built their political career upon the anti-Marcos thing," the governor said.

He added that the label "dictator" was only a product of a propaganda campaign against his father following the 1986 popular revolution.

"These are very important people–writers and politicians–who have said this. It’s very hard for them now to take back what they said," Bongbong said.

He also asserted that his father’s leadership had been "much more efficient, compassionate and effective" compared to any other past administrations.

"This is how the people see us–that we are the children of the president who delivered the bacon," Bongbong said.

The government has filed a host of graft cases against the Marcoses for allegedly amassing illegally acquired wealth during Marcos’ 20-year rule.

The charges were lodged in the aftermath of the February 1986 EDSA Revolt which toppled the Marcos dictatorship and catapulted Mrs. Corazon Aquino, widow of martyred Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., to the presidency.