Imelda jewelry up for re-valuation

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has confirmed plans to re-valuate the three sets of jewelry of former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos that were forfeited in favor of the government.

PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista said they expect the value of the jewelry, currently estimated at $5 million to $8 million, to significantly increase as the last valuation was done in 2003 for one collection and in the early 1990s for the other sets.

Bautista added that authentication would also address claims that the jewelry collection, currently stored at a vault at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, are fake or have been replaced.

In 2013 The STAR reported Mrs. Marcos as saying that some of her original jewelry have been replaced or stolen following their seizure in 1986.

The jewelry collection is divided into three sets: the Malacañang Jewelry Collection, the Roumeliotes Collection and the Hawaii Collection.

Of the three, the Malacañang collection – composed of hundreds of pieces of jewelry left behind by the Marcos family at the Palace – is considered the least expensive, with its value estimated to be between $110,055 and $153,089.

Earlier in 2014, the Sandiganbayan declared the Malacañang collection as “ill-gotten” and ordered its forfeiture to the government.

The anti-graft court junked the appeal of the Marcoses in June.

The other two collections, seized from Greek national Demetriou Roumeliotes and from the Marcoses upon their arrival in Hawaii following the EDSA people Power revolt, have been forfeited in favor of the government.

Meanwhile, Bautista said they would still pursue their plans to exhibit the jewelry collection as it is one way of making people, especially the younger generation, aware of what happened during the Marcos era.

The PCGG earlier said they plan to exhibit the collection this year, but Bautista said they encountered problems in looking for a secure venue where the collections could be safety exhibited.

Earlier reports said the government also plans to auction off the collection, but details on the possible sale have yet to be released.