Marcos family attempts to claim assets
The family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos has launched official action to claim assets they say were owned by their father but held by so-called frontmen for the deceased strongman.
The action comes in the form of an affidavit lodged by Marcos' eldest daughter, Imee Marcos, who rushed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday in a bid to halt the listing of broadcast giant GMA-7 on the stock exchange.
Ms Marcos filed an affidavit claiming GMA-7 shares said to be owned by the family of Gilberto Duavit were in fact 'purchased with my late father's personal funds'. Mr Duavit, a former presidential palace official, merely acted as a front for Marcos, the affidavit stated.
The SEC said it would consider the matter today. GMA-7's initial public offering is scheduled for today.
Ms Marcos' claim is part of a new campaign by her family. Her action closely followed that of her brother, Congressman Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, who last month announced that the family would claim ownership of 18.4 hectares in the central business district of Ortigas in Pasig city.
The property was surrendered to the government in 1986 by Jose Yao Campos, who had admitted serving as a front for Marcos.
Ferdinand Marcos Jnr also told an anti-graft court last month that he was willing to testify in the long-pending cases filed by the government against business tycoon Lucio Tan. Through his lawyer, Mr Marcos said he would tell the court that Mr Tan merely served as a front for his father in the profitable companies Mr Tan claimed to have owned, including a tobacco company, a brewery and a bank.
The filing of the affidavit marked the first time the Marcos family have taken action on their claims.
The broadcaster was previously owned by American businessman Bob Stewart, who was forced to sell after a new constitution - drafted under Mr Duavit's direction - barred foreign ownership of media.
SEC officer Maria Juanito Cueto said the affidavit alone would not stop GMA-7's listing. 'We still have to evaluate what was filed and sort out the issues. We don't have any court injunction and so the [initial public offering] launch would still push through.'
Ms Marcos, a former congresswoman, was apparently hoping the Philippine Stock Exchange would stop the listing of GMA-7 shares. A preliminary offering of common shares last week in Manila and overseas raised nearly 8 billion pesos (HK$1.37 billion).
Ms Marcos accused the company of 'misrepresentation' for not disclosing in its prospectus to potential investors that 'the shares held in the name of the Duavits were merely held in trust' for the Marcos family.
She noted that under stock exchange rules, a company could be delisted for violating disclosure rules. She recalled that in 1996 the bourse halted the maiden listing of leisure firm Puerto Azul after the Marcoses claimed significant ownership through their lawyer.
GMA-7's legal counsel, Gener Asuncion, said: 'We have found no concrete evidence which would destroy the ownership of the Duavits of the shares of stock in GMA-7 but we are not foreclosing any possible countercharge.'
Hidden bounty
Value of assets believed acquired by the Marcos family during Ferdinand Marcos' presidency, in US dollars $10b
Amount recovered so far $1.3b
