Philippines still seeks US$ 1 billion in Marcos wealth 30 years after his ouster

The Philippines is still seeking to recover about US$1 billion worth of assets accumulated by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos through 100 court cases at home and overseas, a government official said on Wednesday.

“The task is not easy,” said Richard Amurao, head of an agency created in 1986 to recover funds from Marcos. “The people holding these assets have been slowing us down. They have been using all sorts of delaying tactics to thwart our efforts.”

Marcos, who ruled the Southeast Asian country for about two decades, fled to Hawaii 30 years ago this week after a near bloodless popular revolt. He died in exile three years later.

Efforts on Wednesday to contact his wife, Imelda, and son Ferdinand Junior, to seek a response to the comments were unsuccessful. Imelda has repeatedly said the family did not steal from the people and its wealth was acquired legally.

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Amurao said that since the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) was created, it has recovered and given the treasury about US$4 billion.

In line with Philippine law, funds have been used mostly for land reform. Based on a Hawaii court ruling, 10 billion pesos (HK$1.6 billion) was used to compensate about 10,000 victims of human rights abuses.