Photo: Jonathan Cellona/ABS-CBN News " width="100%" />
Imelda Marcos’s jewels — some of them at least — are finally going to be sold.
President Rodrigo Duterte has formally granted the necessary green-light for the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to proceed with its auction of the PHP704.8 million (US$13.604 million) worth of jewelry seized decades ago from the former first lady and current Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos.
The news was announced today by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, who said that the Office of the President (OP) did not object to the planned auction.
“The OP has officially informed PCGG that it interposes no objections to the proposed activities relative to the disposal of the Marcos Jewelry Collections, subject to compliance with existing laws, rules, and regulations,” Medialdea said in a scintillating message sent to GMA News and other outlets.
The PCGG was created in February 1986 by the late former president Corazon Aquino to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
Known as the Hawaii collection, the pieces of jewelry in question were seized by US customs officers when the Marcos family arrived in Honolulu in 1986, reported Rappler. It was there the Marcoses fled and lived in exile for several years after former President Ferdinand Marcos was ousted through the bloodless People Power revolt.
Ferdinand ruled the Philippines for 21 years, a time remembered for its numerous human rights violations and massive corruption.
Imelda’s collection includes Indian diamonds, Burmese rubies, and Colombian emeralds, reported ABS-CBN News. It also includes a rare, 25-carat pink diamond that was estimated to be worth millions of dollars. The collection has been stored inside a vault of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) since the 1990s.
The PCGG jewelry auction was first announced late last week but it was only today that the government said that Duterte had given his approval. His spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said that the public will receive the proceeds from the auction, reported The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Panelo, however, did not provide further details as to what form that dispersal would take.
Known for her flamboyant lifestyle, Imelda was convicted of graft in November but remains at large while her case is on appeal.
The rest of the family, meanwhile, continues to live a high-flying lifestyle built on the back of their father’s ill-gotten wealth. Daughter Imee Marcos was recently elected as a senator. Meanwhile, her son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is contesting the results of the 2016 vice presidential elections which he lost to Vice President Leni Robredo.
