The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) reported yesterday that over 100 high-value paintings acquired by former First Lady Imelda Marcos while her late husband was in power, are still unaccounted for. These art pieces include works of renowned painters in the international scene.
PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista says that a lot of the paintings owned by the Marcoses have been recovered and sold but there are still over 100 paintings which are a major portion of the missing items.
The issue on the paintings was once more brought to light when a former aide of Imelda Marcos, Vilma Bautista, allegedly sold one of the missing paintings and is now facing charges in New York. The painting (“Le Bassin aux Nympheas”) is one of the works of the famous French Impressionist painter Claude Monet, which was bought by a London gallery for $32 million in 2010.
Other paintings that Vilma Bautista is believed to be keeping are “L’Eglise et La Seine a Vetheuil” by Monet, “Langland Bay” by Alfred Sisley, and “Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said” by Albert Marquet.
PCGG’s Bautista says that these paintings used to hang in the Malacañang Palace and the Metropolitan Museum and there are shipping documents that show they were sent to the US from the Philippines.
With these developments, Bautista hopes that more of the missing artworks will soon resurface and be returned to the Philippines and to the Filipino people, who are its true owners, GMA News reported.
