SINGAPORE: Singapore's High Court has ruled that
more than $23 million seized from the estate of late Philippine
leader Ferdinand Marcos rightfully belongs to a Philippine
bank.
In a 77-page ruling obtained on Thursday by AFP,
Justice Andrew Ang dismissed the rival claims of the Philippine
government, a group of human rights victims and five foundations
believed to be Marcos fronts.
He ruled that the money -- deposited in the
Singapore branch of German bank WestLB -- belongs to the now
privately-owned Philippine National Bank (PNB).
"I am of the view that PNB holds legal title to the funds as
trustee of the same," Ang said in his judgement issued on
Wednesday.
The funds, comprising $16.8 million and 4.2 million British pounds
($6.58 million), were part of the alleged illicit fortune that
Marcos stashed away in various Swiss bank accounts.
Marcos ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, when he was
overthrown by a popular revolt. He died in exile in Hawaii in
1989.
He first governed as a democratically elected president but
declared martial law in 1972, using military force to crush
dissent.
Marcos and a circle of relatives and cronies allegedly amassed a
fortune of up to $10 billion through graft and rigged business
deals, much of it stashed overseas.
In 1998, Swiss authorities released deposits in Swiss banks to PNB,
which in turn transferred the money to various banks in Singapore
including WestLB, according to the ruling.
WestLB went to court in 2004 to determine the owner of the money
after several groups staked claims.
Among the claimants was the Philippine government, which based its
arguments on a 2003 ruling by the country's Supreme Court that the
funds be forfeited in its favour.
But the Singapore judge ruled that the Philippine Supreme Court
ruling could not be enforced in the city-state.
While he dismissed the claims of the human rights victims, the
judge said he sympathised with their plight but the court "must act
in a principled manner when dealing with such questions of
law".
Despite numerous cases being filed in the Philippines, no member of
the surviving Marcos family has been successfully prosecuted.
- AFP/al