MANILA, Philippines - Presidential sister Kris Aquino has no access to the seized jewelry of former first lady Imelda Marcos, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said yesterday.
The PCGG issued the statement after a photo that went viral online showed her wearing what appeared to be a diamond-studded necklace, which several netizens believe to be similar to the one in the PCGG’s custody.
Aquino’s photo wearing the necklace was shown side-by-side with the Imelda necklace, an image of which was taken last month during the jewelry collection’s appraisal at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), where it has been stored for over two decades.
She supposedly wore the jewelry during the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit, which happened a week before the appraisal.
Since it is stored in a high security vault at BSP, Aquino has no way to access the jewelry collection, PCGG commissioner Andrew de Castro told The STAR.
“It’s impossible to have been taken from the Central Bank vault and returned just in time for our appraisal the week after,” he said. “It looks completely different.”
A closer look at the viral photo also showed several differences in the necklace that Aquino wore from the one seized from the Marcoses.
The Marcos necklace has small dark jewels between the diamonds, which are not present in Aquino’s necklace.
The PCGG said four keys are needed to access the vault, where the jewelry collections are kept.
Holding them are four different agencies: the PCGG, the Bureau of Customs, the Commission on Audit and the Office of the President.
Aquino had no comment on the matter, although a number of her followers have pointed out the differences between the jewelry.
De Castro said the Marcos jewelry collection stored at the BSP vault were all accounted for based on the original list made following its seizure after President Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in 1986.
His statement dispelled rumors that some of the jewelry had been taken or replaced by fakes over the years.
Last month, the PCGG, along with BOC and the Office of the President, initiated a weeklong appraisal of the jewelry collection by international auction houses Sotheby’a and Christie’s.
Its total valuation, which is expected to significantly increase from the previous estimate of $6 million to $8 million in the early 1990s, has yet to be released.