by MLC | Dec 26, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis
By: Gerry Lirio
Source: ABS-CBN News
(UPDATED) THREE more valuable paintings seized by American authorities from an aide of former First Lady Imelda Marcos were put up for auction at Christie’s in New York.
Last November 11, two of these paintings –“L’Eglise a La Seine a Vetheuil” by French impressionist Claude Monet and “Langland Bay” by British landscape artist Alfred –Sisley were sold at Christie’s for $2.6 million and $900,000, respectively.
A third painting “Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said”, also known as “Algerian View” by French painter Albert Marquet was up for auction on Monday with an estimated price ranging anywhere from $90,000 to $120,000.
The artwork “Algerian View” painted in 1946 by Albert Marquet, is seen in this handout photo from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on November 20, 2012.
All the three paintings are believed to have been part of some 200 art collections accumulated by Marcos over the 20-year regime of her husband, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
American lawyer Robert Swift will handle the proceeds of the paintings based on a New York court order last September 25 based, which stemmed from a verdict handed down in Hawaii over a class suit he filed on behalf of Marcos’s martial law victims, otherwise called “Class of Judgment Creditors of the Estate of the Ferdinand E. Marcos, Imelda Marcos, and Ferdinand R. Marcos”.
The Sunday night auction, according to Swift, was part of an annual big art event in New York, which regularly attracts bidders from around the world.
Apart from the three paintings, on sale Sunday were at least 40 art collections by multi-talented Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and Dutch Vincent Van Gogh, and Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, and other works by Monet.
Swift told ABS-CBN News of the auction Saturday night in an email, a day after anti-graft court in the Philippines convicted Marcos of seven counts of graft, and meted out for each count seven-year imprisonment.
Nobody knew anything of the whereabouts of Marcos’s 200 art collections until New York authorities arrested her aide, Vilma Bautista, a former diplomat, and Bautista’s two nephews in November 2013 for the 2010 sale of Monet’s “Le Bassin aux Nympheas” at a London Gallery for $10 million.
Another Marcos’s painting–a Monet titled “Water Lilies”–was sold for $32 million years ago, in a private deal, not through an auction. Swift distributed the proceeds of the sale to the Marcos’s victims.
The art pieces allegedly “disappeared” from Imelda’s townhouse in New York at the height of four-day peaceful revolution in the Philippines in February 1986.
Some of these had been stored in a townhouse located at No. 13-15 East 6th Street in Manhattan, which used to house the Philippine Consulate and Mission to the United Nations, but Imelda converted it for her personal use, decorating it with some of the paintings.
A few days before and after the fall of the Marcoses, Bautista was seen to have been loading the paintings into a huge van, said Swift, quoting sworn statements of witnesses. She was said to have subsequently disappeared into the night.
In December 2013, Swift asked the Supreme Court of New York to locate the rest of the 200 paintings, including three by Picasso and one by Van Gogh.
“Vetheuil” was offered for sale, first for $20 million, then for $55 million, according to the charge sheet Swift lodged against the former diplomat.
Other parties interested in the proceeds of the sale were the Philippine government, the Golden Buddha Corporation, and the estate of Roger Roxas, the man who allegedly discovered Yamashita treasure in Baguio City, which Marcos allegedly seized in the 1970s.
Now into her late 70s, Bautista has been actively fighting the criminal case against her, the American lawyer said.
by MLC | Dec 25, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis
Source: ABS-CBN News
MANILA – (UPDATE) Graft convict Imelda Marcos claimed she was suffering from “multiple organ infirmities,” forcing her to skip the Sandiganbayan’s promulgation of her case.
In a motion before the court’s 5th Division, Marcos said she was told by her doctor to “refrain from stressful conditions” that will put her at risk of “heart and brain attack and recurrence of seizure.”
The motion was filed by Marcos’ lawyer, Manuel Lazaro last Monday and was only released to the media on Thursday.
The Marcos matriarch is said to be suffering from at least 7 health conditions, according to a medical certificate issued by St. Luke’s Medical Center adult neurologist Dr. Joven Cuanang.
In the medical certificate dated Nov. 12, 2018 issued by Dr. Cuanang, Marcos is “under chronic medical care for several years now.”
Cuanang said he regularly coordinates the medical care of Marcos with various doctors and nurses he named in the medical certificate.
He listed seven conditions affecting Marcos: diabetes mellitus type 2, hypertension and atheroscelerotic cardio-vascular disease, static ministrokes, moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss, chronic recurrent urinary tract infection, chronic recurrent gastritis and multiple colon polyps, recurrent respiratory tract infection.
Cuanang said the ministrokes are “due to cerebral scars from a previous surgery for chronic subdural hematoma.” He qualified the conditions as “multiple organ infirmities.”
“For these multiple organ infirmities, she is under period surveillance in cooperation with her nurses to keep her on optimal health at her age,” Cuanang said in the medical certificate.
He also said Marcos is on “many supplements to improve her immune system.”
Marcos was publicly criticized for not attending the promulgation of her 7 graft cases. The anti-graft court found the widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. guilty of 7 counts of graft for using her position to maintain her Swiss bank accounts during their rule.
On the day of her case’s promulgation, however, the Ilocos Norte representative was seen attending the birthday party of her daughter, Governor Imee Marcos.
Among the officials seen with her in the party were Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.
The Sandiganbayan last Tuesday deferred the arrest warrant against the Ilocos Norte Representative after she filed a motion for leave of court to avail post-conviction remedies.
by MLC | Dec 24, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis
Source: ABS-CBN News
Former First Lady Imelda Marcos appears before the Sandiganbayan. Mrs Marcos is seeking a ‘leave of court’ to contest her graft conviction. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA – Former First Lady Imelda Marcos on Friday told the anti-graft court that she did not know the promulgation of her case was scheduled last Friday after she initially said she had to skip the proceedings due to her doctor’s orders.
Marcos, who was found guilty of 7 counts of graft for funneling public funds to overseas bank accounts, said she did not receive notice from the Sandiganbayan and she only learned about her verdict on television.
“If I knew about it your honor, I would have been here right away. Even if I was sick, I would have come here,” she said during her first appearance before the court since her conviction was handed down last week.
Justice Rafael Lagos, chairperson of the court’s 5th division, pointed out that the statement Marcos made on the witness stand contradicted the medical certificate submitted by St Luke’s Medical Center neurologist Joven Cuanang.
The Marcos matriarch is said to be “under chronic medical care for several years now” and is suffering from at least 7 health conditions, according to a medical certificate issued by Cuanang.
He listed seven conditions affecting Marcos: diabetes mellitus type 2, hypertension and atheroscelerotic cardio-vascular disease, static ministrokes, moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss, chronic recurrent urinary tract infection, chronic recurrent gastritis and multiple colon polyps, recurrent respiratory tract infection.
This led to the recommendation that the 89-year-old lawmaker from Ilocos Norte to “refrain from stressful conditions” that will put her at risk of “heart and brain attack and recurrence of seizure,” her camp said in a motion filed earlier this week.
But Lagos pointed out that Marcos was able to attend the birthday party of her daughter Imee, a senatorial aspirant and the current provincial governor, on the same day.
Marcos said she got a call from Imee who was “crying,” informing her that “all the guests are already here.”
Marcos, widow of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was found guilty of graft for using the Cabinet position she held during her husband’s presidency to maintain Swiss bank accounts.
She is the first in their family, who has been accused of pocketing ill-gotten wealth estimated between US$5 billion to US$10 billion, to be convicted.
She was sentenced to imprisonment of 6 years and 1 month to 11 years for each of the 7 counts, but she was able to post bail on Friday while awaiting the court’s decision on her motion for leave of court to explore post-conviction remedies.
by MLC | Dec 23, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis
Source: ABS-CBN News
Former first lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos appears before the Sandiganbayan’s 5th division on Friday after the court convicted her of 7 counts of graft last Nov. 9, 2018. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA- Several opposition lawmakers on Friday slammed the Sandiganbayan’s decision to allow former first lady Imelda Marcos to post bail.
The anti-graft court ordered Marcos to post a P150,000 bail bond while it deliberates on her petitions to reverse her graft convictions. She was found guilty earlier this month for 7 counts of graft for funneling public funds to Swiss accounts.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin said the bail grant should not be taken lightly since Marcos’ case is “no ordinary case.” Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares meanwhile warned that justice would further be delayed.
“Filipinos want her arrested and mugshots taken. That move alone will be a very significant step in seeking historical justice,” Villarin said.
“It is history judging her and this is no ordinary case that we just let pass without a whimper,” he added.
“The special treatment for Imelda means that corrupt government officials can steal big and delay the case until they grow old and claim that they must not be sent to prison for health reasons,” Colmenares said.
“This is not the message we wish to impart on our children. The message should be crime does not pay. And if you do the crime you do the time,” he added.
Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago meanwhile criticized the amount set by the court for Marcos’ temporary liberty, saying it was nothing compared to the billions stolen from national coffers.
“Insulto ito sa mga martial law victims, sa mga pamilya nila, at sa mamamayang Pilipino na matagal nang pinagkaitan ng hustisya sa krimen ng mga Marcos at ng nakaw na kapangyarihan,” she said.
“Hindi tayo papayag na makatakas sila nang ganun ganun lang! Iselda si Imelda!” she added.
(This is an insult to martial law victims, their families, and the Filipino people who have long been waiting for justice for the crimes committed by the Marcoses. We will not allow them to escape justice just like that. Jail Imelda!)
While Marcos was granted temporary liberty, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said she would forever be condemned by history.
“The massive human rights atrocities and pillage during Marcos’ martial law will perpetually haunt the Marcoses and condemn them to the prison of history,” he said.
Marcos appeared before the Sandiganbayan 5th Division for the first time Friday and told the court she had no idea that the promulgation of her case was scheduled Nov. 9.
by MLC | Dec 22, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis
By: Trisha Billiones
Source: ABS-CBN News
MANILA – Relief and alarm were the two reactions of former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque when he heard of the graft conviction handed to former First Lady Imelda Marcos, he said Monday.
He said he was relieved that “at least there’s a historical pronouncement that certain crimes were committed during the Marcos administration,” but he was also alarmed that it took 27 years before a court convicted a member of the family.
“It’s unfair both to the complainant, the people of the Philippines, and the accused to stand trial for 27 years given the constitutional precept that people have the right to speedy trial. It shows that we have a very serious problem with our legal system,” he told ANC’s Headstart.
“You cannot call yourself a civilized society and have to wait 27 years before a decision is rendered by the court,” he said.
As the country remembers the 9 years since Maguindanao massacre, where dozens were killed, including several members of the media, Roque, whose law firm represent some of the victims, said the time for prosecution should be shortened.
“Are we saying it will take the same period of time, 27 years, before we can get a conviction? It cannot be,” he said.
Roque, who is running for the Senate, said the solution is to return to the “inquisitorial system,” where the judges gather evidence to be able to resolve the controversy “at the soonest time possible.”
Mrs. Marcos, widow of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was found guilty of 7 counts of graft for funneling public funds to overseas bank accounts.
by MLC | Dec 21, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis
By: Mark Demayo
Source: ABS-CBN News
Former First Lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos appears before the Sandiganbayan’s 5th division on Friday after the court convicted her of 7 counts of graft last November 9. Marcos filed a motion exploring post-conviction remedies, citing medical reasons, after the Sandiganbayan convicted her on 7 counts of graft which carries a minimum 6-year prison term for each count.
