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SCMP Reporter

IT is being billed in the Philippines as a heavyweight clash that will make the usual scraps involving the Marcos family look like pillow fights.

  At stake is almost US$500 million (about HK$3.86 billion) of the Marcos fortune stashed in unnumbered Swiss bank accounts which will be unfrozen tomorrow morning for return to the Philippines.

  The main contenders are the Philippine Government, the Marcos family, about 10,000 human rights victims claiming US$2 billion compensation, and a British company seeking a US$1 billion debt from the Marcos estate.

  But there are other undeclared claimants to the total fortune hidden in tax havens around the world, which is estimated by Philippines experts to be worth between US$5 billion and $10 billion.

  Among those rumoured to be making claims is Carmen Ortega, Ferdinand Marcos' common law wife with whom he had five children before marrying Imelda Romualdez.

  Further clouding the inevitable litigation is an accommodation between Ferdinand 'Bong Bong' Marcos Jr and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), which is responsible for tracking the missing millions. According to this formula, the domestic portion of the Marcos fortune is to be split 75-25 in favour of the government, and overseas assets split 50-50.

   For now the Philippine Government, which has been trying for 10 years to pierce the ring of shelf companies and offshore accounts that block access to the Marcos wealth, appears to have the upper hand.

  Magtanggol Gunigundo, the normally taciturn PCGG head, is confident that the decision by Swiss bankers to lift its freeze on US$475 million which had accumulated over 20 years, will lead to further breakthroughs.

  'The Swiss move may be the magnet that will pull all the pieces together,' said Mr Gunigundo, who six months ago had been so disheartened by the lack of progress that he announced he would quit his post. Now, he has accepted a second, indefinite, term of office from President Fidel Ramos.

  'This may be the breakthrough that will shake loose all the other Marcos bank accounts and assets, including substantial real estate properties around the world,' he said.

  'All we need to get the right proof, in most cases, is access. In any case, we are over the moon because the Swiss move is recognition that our claims on the Marcos millions are valid.'   President Ramos was even more effusive about the turn of events. 'This represents an unprecedented defining and shining moment in the odyssey of this administration to bring back the ill-gotten wealth for the benefit of our country and our people,' he said.

  Imelda Marcos, who is accused of accepting suitcases full of money at Malacanang Palace and stashing the loot in foreign bank accounts under names such as William Saunders, Jane Ryan, and the Sandy Foundation, has said little.

  'I'm happy if there is a decision to bring the so-called Marcos assets to the Philippines, because since the death of my husband, I have been concerned about the implementation of his last will and testament to give his wealth to the Filipinos,' she said.

  'Unfortunately, we have been relentlessly derailed and stopped because of cases being tried in the United States.'   The Swiss announcement came as a surprise to the Philippine Government, which had been trying to find ways around conditions imposed by the Swiss Supreme Court which stalled the recovery process.

  The court had ruled on December 21, 1990, that the matter could only be handed over to a Philippine court if the Marcoses' rights under Swiss and European law were guaranteed.

  The Marcoses have until tomorrow to appeal against the Swiss decision, whereupon the money will be placed in an escrow account in Manila.

  The Sandiganbayan (people's court) will then decide whether the money was honestly obtained, or whether the Marcoses, who in 1966 declared an income of US$69,300 and assets worth US$30,000, plundered it from the people.

  If the amount is deemed to be ill-gotten, the Sandiganbayan is expected to pass the money to the Philippine Government, but if the sum is ruled to be legally acquired then the government will only be allowed to take its entitlement. Existing legislation says all wealth recovered from the Marcos family should be spent primarily on improving the ability of the Filipinos to feed themselves. Swelling the queue of claimants were 10,000 human rights victims who said they were subjected to torture and arbitrary imprisonment under the 20-year Marcos regime.

  PCGG chairman Mr Gunigundo says he is sympathetic to the human rights victims, but says they should file their claims in a Philippine court instead of in America.

  Mrs Marcos, speaking on behalf of son Bong Bong, daughters Irene and Imee and adopted daughter Aimee, also noted the human rights victims' claims, but reiterated that she is entitled to three quarters of the Marcos fortune, while the four Marcos children are entitled to a quarter.

  'Half the fortune is here as a conjugal right, while she is also claiming 50 per cent of the remaining half, giving her a three quarters stake in the late president Marcos' inheritance,' a spokeswoman said.

  The Marcoses own substantial real estate in the Philippines, including beachfront properties in Leyte, and plush houses and condominiums in upmarket Makati, Greenhills and Ayala Alabang. They also have blue chip properties in the US and Europe as well as priceless art and jewellery.

   The PCGG has asked the Marcoses to make an inventory of their assets and how they were acquired for judicial inspection. It is a prospect which has all of the Philippines rubbing their hands in anticipation.



Unfrozen assets