FM victims to get $10 M from Monet painting

MANILA, Philippines - Some 10,000 human rights victims of the Marcos regime are set to get a $10-million settlement over a pricey artwork sold by Imelda Marcos’ former aide in New York, their lawyers said yesterday.

Robert Swift, lead counsel for the 10,000 Filipino victims of human rights abuses, said the settlement is derived from the “illegal sale” of one of the paintings, an impressionist masterpiece by Claude Monet, by Imelda’s former assistant Vilma Bautista to a foreign art collector.

Philippine co-counsel Rod Domingo Jr. said the recovery of $10 million will be welcome news to the victims, most of them now aged and poor.

He said the first distribution of $1,000 to each victim was done in 2011.

“We anticipate a second distribution in early 2014 when perhaps even more money will have been recovered,” Domingo said.

He said the approval of the settlement is pending before Judge Manuel Real of the Federal Court in Hawaii. 

“Any distribution must be approved by the court,” Domingo said.

Swift said the $10-million settlement was paid by the current owner of the Monet painting, adding that the victims continue to sue all others involved in the sale of the painting.

“With this settlement, the class is just starting to recover on its judgment,” Swift said.

In 2010, the New York District Attorney indicted Bautista for the “illegal sale” of the Monet painting.

The District Attorney has also recovered $15 million from the sale of three other valuable artworks.

The victims immediately filed suit in New York to recover the paintings and the proceeds.

In a previous statement, Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chairman Andres Bautista, who is not related to Imelda’s former aide, said the three paintings of significant international value, including a pricey Monet, seized by New York District Attorney from Bautista, is part of the 146 missing artworks from the Marcos collection, which included Picassos, Rembrandts, and a Raphael.

“I’ve got nothing against them going after the Marcos estate. It’s their prerogative. But they have to distinguish between assets of the Marcoses and ill-gotten wealth,” PCGG’s Bautista said.

“These paintings are ill-gotten wealth and not Marcos’ properties. What is proper is to remit it back to the government and compensate the victims, which is what it did,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday said he has yet to consult with his lawyers on reports that human rights victims will get a big chunk of the proceeds of the sale of the paintings.

“I’m sure an American court can order that but as far as I know, the case is not yet at that point,” Marcos told The STAR in a text message. –  With Christina Mendez