Marcos’ son denies
knowing site of assets

The son of the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos told a federal judge in Honolulu yesterday that he has no knowledge of any family assets that would help pay a $2 billion judgment against his father.

Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos Jr., governor of the Philippine province of Ilocos Norte, appeared before U.S. District Judge Manuel Real, who is presiding over a class-action lawsuit filed by 9,539 Filipinos who won the multimillion-dollar judgment against the Marcos estate in 1995.

In a court order filed just before his arrival, Marcos Jr. was directed to "make no public statements, appearances or press conferences" regarding the litigation. Yesterday, he spoke through his attorney, John Bartko.

"My client supports the settlement and its prompt funding, but he's not legally obligated to pay his father's debts," Bartko said. "The Philippine government is responsible for providing the money."

In December the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a previous ruling by Real, freezing assets of the late Philippine president that are being held in the Philippines and in banks around the world. Those funds include $40 million that has been held in an escrow account because of competing claims of ownership by the Marcos estate, the Philippine government and the human rights victims.

Attorneys for Arelma Corp., a Panamanian financial company set up by Marcos that originally held the $40 million, appealed that ruling. Arguments in the appeal are scheduled before the 9th Circuit in March.

In another motion on Friday, the San Francisco circuit court rejected a plaintiff request to recover $683 million in Marcos assets that were transferred from a Swiss account to the Philippine government, which claims ownership of the money.

The three-judge panel said American courts could not overturn a ruling by a foreign country's supreme court, upholding the decision in July 2004 by the Philippines' highest court to deposit the funds in the government's coffers.

Philippine laws stipulate that all of Marcos' allegedly ill-gotten wealth be used to finance the government's land reform program. However, presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye has said the government is working to amend the law to allow the victims to be compensated.

The plaintiffs are pursuing other avenues to collect money. They are trying to seize $22 million in Marcos assets located in a bank in Singapore, but the Philippine government also claims ownership of that money, said Jon van Dyke, a professor of international law at the University of Hawaii.

He said the plaintiffs also are trying to litigate their case against the Marcos estate in Philippine courts but have not gotten past a court order requiring the posting of a $7 million bond to have the case heard.

Marcos Jr. is scheduled to return to the Philippines today. Speaking through his attorney, he said he does not know where the assets are and that he is cooperating with the court to try and locate them.

Sherry Broder, an attorney for the plaintiffs, doubted that the Marcos family has no more assets.

"My theory is that there are personal assets of the Marcoses that they still have access to. When Imelda Marcos left the United States of America, she rented an airplane for $750,000 to fly back to the Philippines, and she still lives a very glorious lifestyle," Broder said.

When asked to explain how Marcos Jr., now serving a second term as governor of Ilocos Norte, lives day to day, Bartko said: "Well, you know, it's a great mystery about politicians everywhere on the planet. Somehow, they find their way in office to provide for themselves and their family a reasonable livelihood, and often in cases like the Philippines, they're even more adept than others."