A STINKY FISH CALLED FISHY GG

Shouldn't an investigation be conducted soon on the activities of former officials of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) since its creation a few days after former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino came to power in 1986? But wait, is the PCGG still in existence? Looks like they've all packed up and left only fishbones for the new vultures.

This will certainly clear up all tales and speculations about the so-called Marcos wealth and expose grand-scale looting of the same by cronies of the Aquino family appointed then to the PCGG. The looting today is the same as it was then. These PCGG officials then and now are living in silent contented opulence from the hundreds of millions they plundered in their short stints at the PCGG.

Included in this batch of post-EDSA crooks are member of the notorious Kamaganak Inc. who were among the very first to venture grabbing the Marcos family wealth. Bantay-salakay.

I'd like to see the current regime under Aquino II order the Sandiganbayan to require the PCGG to submit a thorough accounting and inventory of its activities and sequestrations since its creation, and furnish publicly an accounting of the method on how these new "acquisitions" were disposed of and also, what offices and banks they were deposited in and who were responsible for administering them.

You see, many of these former PCGG officials are now living bountiful lives with enough illegally-acquired wealth to last them several lifetimes. I know of several Marcos cronies who have escaped persecution and sequestration of their assets by simply handing over half of their assets to well-placed lawyer-relatives. One such kin concerned former Ambassador Benjamin 'Kokoy' Romualdez in a lightning raid then on such firms a few weeks right after EDSA. This relative has since passed away but his loot has been distributed to his heirs who still cling to them and enjoy its fruits.

Investigate these PCGG officials once and for all and compel them to show records of their sequestration activities.

(Image from www.en.wikipilipinas.org/)

TWO DOZEN YEARS AGO

Today February 22 begins the observance of the 4-day EDSA revolt. So it has been 24 years already. As February is the month for love, it is also the month for broken promises. The promise which catapulted the Aquino administration and her Kamaganak Inc. to power is now reduced to yellow Cory er, curry powder.

Play a little game as you watch those on center stage while they try to whip up the spirit of EDSA. Who among them were actually at EDSA from day one of the anti-Marcos revolt started by Juan Ponce Enrile, Fidel Ramos and Gregorio Honasan. Who are the Johnnies-come-lately? Who were the so-called steak commandos selling pots and pans in the US and in Canada, living in ghettoes and who now live in posh villages with obese bank accounts?

Who were in fact not even at EDSA but now claim credit for that upheaval and have pushed the real heroes out of the picture. We are sure you will come up with startling answers. These pseudo-heroes are still around, bloviating and all with their sickening presence.

(Image from http://www.wikimedia.org/)

THE "MISSING" JEWELS

Allow me to revive the subject matter regarding the valises of jewelry the Marcoses left in 1986 when they fled Malacanang Palace. I remember former Palace official Chito Roque when he testified at Imelda Marcos' trial in New York saying he had gathered some diamonds in Malacanang and had turned them over to President Cory Aquino. I also remember how her spokesmen quickly issued a public statement that Mrs. Aquino had then turned over the gems to the Central Bank of the Philippines for safekeeping and that all of the Marcos gems left in Malacanang are intact at the Bangko Sentral.

However, allow me to share further what I have gathered recently while sleuthing on the matter, true or untrue:

- Only five (5) of the fourteen (14) valises of gems, foreign currency, bank books, stocks and bonds, land titles and other important documents have been accounted for. Missing is the so-called "purple valise" containing diamonds and other gems.

- Most of the gems were secretly shipped to Hong Kong where exact copies were crafted by a master jeweller. It is these fakes that are now deposited at the Bangko Sentral. The real gems are stashed in banks in Hong Kong, London, Zurich and various cities in the U.S.

- Mrs. Marcos' lawyer Gerry Spence claims that some of the Marcos jewelry were worn by certain powerful people during the Aquino presidency, where such information were furnished by disgruntled elements in the Aquino government.

True or not, this merits for a thorough re-investigation.

However again, here are solid facts on the matter as shared to me by my unimpeachable source:

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos had a vast collection of jewelry as follows:

1. The jewelry collection which the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) confiscated during the height of EDSA 1. We refer to this as the "MALACANANG COLLECTION."

2. The jewelry collection seized by the U.S. Customs from the Marcos family upon arrival in Hawaii. These were surrendered by the U.S. District Court of Hawaii to the Philippine government through the PCGG. We refer to this as the "HAWAII COLLECTION."

3. The jewelry collection seized by the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BoC) from a foreign national named Demetrious Roumeliotes at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in 1986 for violation of the Tariff and Customs Code. We refer to this as the "ROUMELIOTES COLLECTION."

To this day, the true location of the jewels remain a mystery. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) alleges that the ownership of the "HAWAII COLLECTION" and the "ROUMELIOTES COLLECTION" had been duly settled by the Sandiganbayan in a Resolution dated October 25, 1996 in Sandiganbayan Civil Case No. 0141 (SB Civil Case No. 0141).

And among the three collections, only the "MALACANANG COLLECTION" was mentioned, without an inventory or description of the same, in the Statement of Facts of the Petition for Forfeiture dated December 18,1991 in SB Civil Case No. 0141. However, it did not specifically pray for the forfeiture of the jewelry pieces.

Again, to date, the current government has failed and has never initiated any forfeiture proceedings and/or issued the mandatory sequestration or freeze order with respect thereto. It has not taken any action by which it attempted to formalize a determination of the ownership of the jewelries seized in Malacanang Palace in 1986.

In view thereof, on May 25, 2009, the lawyers of Mrs. Imelda Marcos demanded for the immediate return (to Mrs. Marcos) of all of the jewelry pieces taken by the PCGG from Malacanang Palace, including those turned over by the U.S. District Court of Hawaii.

Thereafter, the PCGG and the OSG had countered the demand by filing a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment over the "MALACANANG COLLECTION" dated June 24, 2009 in SB Civil Case No. 0141. The Motion has been submitted for resolution of the Sandiganbayan Special Division.

I won't be surprised at all if I see several of these "missing jewelry" this year being worn again by powerful ladies then and now.

(Image from http://jewelry-weblog.com/)