Court orders Imelda to repay $250,000 Tuesday, 14 September 2010 04:49

MANILA: Imelda Marcos, the widow of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was ordered yesterday by an anti-corruption court to return about 11m pesos ($250,000) secretly taken from the state’s rice agency in the early 1980s.

The court, known as the Sandiganbayan, found the transfer of funds from the National Food Authority (NFA) to a Marcos account at a private bank in 1983 as “highly irregular and illegal”.

Imelda Marcos, infamous for her collection of jewellery and 1,200 pairs shoes found after her husband was overthrown and forced into exile in 1986, said she could not afford the payment.

“They have taken away everything from our family,” said Marcos, who won a seat in Congress at the May elections.

“The government has frozen all our assets. Where will I get that amount to pay the government back?” she told reporters.

The former first lady has rejected proposals to settle cases of ill-gotten wealth, confident that through litigation she can recover millions of dollars of assets seized by the state.

Ferdinand Marcos ruled for two decades before he was ousted in an army-backed popular uprising in 1986. He was accused of amassing more than $10bn while in office.

REUTERS

Aquino refuses to give in on  judiciary budget cut

MANILA: Malacañang is unperturbed by threats of a “judicial revolt” in the light of President Aquino’s refusal to give in to the request of the judiciary for a higher budget in 2011.

In separate interviews, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda declared that they could do nothing about the budget proposal, especially since the judiciary has kept secret the real amount of its Judicial Development Fund (JDF).

“At the moment, we are completely blind (about the JDF status),” Abad told radio dzMM.

Apart from the JDF, Abad said another source of income for the judiciary is the Special Allowances for Justices and Judges (SAJJ).

He said the funds should be “subject to audit” by the Commission on Audit.

“We just don’t know if they have a report on the SAJJ and JDF,” Abad said.

In his proposed P1.645-trillion 2011 national budget, the President is seeking P14.3bn for the judiciary, an amount that is P1bn more than this year’s P13.3bn.

Court administrator and Supreme Court (SC) spokesman Midas Marquez said the judiciary wanted a P27.1bn budget for 2011.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

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