Marcos wealth could pay off RP’s P3.9-T debt, says PCGG

The ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family may be enough to pay off the national debt, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said yesterday.

During yesterday’s Bulong Pulungan sa Philippine Plaza in Pasay City, PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede said former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos told him the national debt would amount to about P3.9 trillion.

"I had dinner with her (Mrs. Marcos) before the (taping of a talk) show (about the Marcos family wealth)," he said.

"Tinanong ko iyun (I asked the total amount of wealth they have). Ang sabi niya (She said) this is enough to pay our national debt plus more. Yun ang sinabi niya (That’s what she said)."

Abcede denounced claims by several sectors, among them the first PCGG head, former Senate president Jovito Salonga who argued that entering into a compromise with the Marcoses is illegal.

A complete identification of all Marcos assets would be prudent in entering into a compromise, he added.

Abcede said local cases involving the Marcoses and their cronies, some 520 of them, amount to P220 billion.

There are more Marcos assets abroad, he added.

Malacañang expressed support yesterday for the PCGG’s efforts to enter into compromise agreements with the Marcos family and businessman Eduardo Cojuangco.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye issued the statement after Salonga wrote to President Arroyo appealing to her to stop the PCGG’s talks with the Marcoses and Cojuangco.

"I believe at some point we have to settle this question this has been pending for so many years and we have to have a closure to this issue," he said.

"We have to settle this one way or the other, I don’t think we can let this issue (of recovering alleged ill-gotten wealth) fester for another 25 years."

Bunye denied that Mrs. Arroyo had given the PCGG the go-signal to undertake negotiations with the Marcoses and Cojuangco. — With Paolo Romero