Marcos-government deal: Is there a connivance?

Now it’s the Makati Business Club (MBC) which is asking: Is there a secret deal between the heirs of President Ferdinand Marcos and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)?

This column had earlier asked that question, pointing out that the claim of Rep. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. that his family owns the Lucio Tan group of companies could boomerang against him.

The MBC wants the agency to explain recent developments that hint to a secret arrangement between the government and the Marcos heirs.

The MBC last week expressed concern over “the brazenness” of the claim of the Marcoses that they own companies which the PCGG has claimed to have been ill-gotten by the late president.

The claim appears to be contrary to logic. How in the world will the younger Marcos justify his family’s ownership of companies and assets that run to billions of pesos when they did not have that kind of money, as they had reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue?

If the PCGG succeeds in proving that the Marcos wealth was ill-gotten, where do Bongbong, Imelda and Irene end up? Behind bars?

My own belief is that they are not that stupid to testify against Lucio Tan for nothing. There must be an arrangement that suspicious minds have to uncover, if they can.

We don’t know if, indeed, there is such an arrangement or compromise to bring logic to this otherwise illogical conclusion that Bongbong, et al, are willing to go to jail just to prove that they used illegally sourced money to take over companies belonging to other people.

There is no such deal, according to the PCGG people, whether individually or collectively.

“The PCGG reiterates its position that there is no deal with the Marcos family,” declared Nick Suarez, PCGG spokesman.

“We do not have any idea as to the motivations of Bongbong. But as far as PCGG is concerned, there is no agreement. We deny allegations or whatever suspicions some sectors have of an existing alliance or agreement with the Marcos family,” he stated.

Marcos Jr. has demanded that the assets of his cronies—friends, as defined by the dictionaries—be returned to their “rightful” owners, meaning Marcos and family.

“Rightful” may not be the right word insofar as some people might find the word “rightful” contrary to their senses.

“The attempts by the Marcos family to recover assets hidden by the dictator’s cronies raise questions to which the Filipino people deserve answers,” the MBC insisted.

“After 21 years since Marcos fell from power, why is his family asserting their claim now? In so doing, are they not exposing themselves to legal and tax liabilities? Do they have a secret deal with the Arroyo administration to give up part of the assets in order to escape liabilities?” the MBC asked.

Another Marcos child, Imee, former congressman from Ilocos Norte, is also claiming ownership of a part of GMA-7.

GMA, of course, is not owned by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA). How it came to be is anybody’s guess, but in the past, the name probably stood for Greater Manila Area.

Last week, too, Imee went to the Securities and Exchange Commission to stop the initial public offering of GMA-7 network.

She claimed that the Marcos family was the actual owner of the stake of the Duavit family in the broadcast giant.

During the Marcos era, many suspected that Imee owned GMA-7, but nobody could attest to the truthfulness of the suspicion.

Now Imee is declaring to all that she indeed owned and owns the television station. How’d she do it?

As we have asked in an earlier column: Does Bongbong want to hang himself?

E-mail: raulbvalino@yahoo.com.ph.

IT’S funny that the government is thinking about having “emergency powers” to address the water-supply shortage in Metro Manila. It’s as if the government could force the rains to come by fiat or presidential signature.

With the market down nearly 100 points yesterday, it might be hard to find a silver lining. The good news is that the market dropped like a rock on the opening and stayed there.

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), the banks’ bank of last resort, is in for a big headache. It cannot seemingly enforce a financial pact it has drawn with the owners of Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) for the huge help it gave to the bank, which suffered a liquidity crunch three years ago.

Now it’s the Makati Business Club (MBC) which is asking: Is there a secret deal between the heirs of President Ferdinand Marcos and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)?

In the span of just 30 years, Asia has achieved unprecedented economic growth and poverty reduction. The region’s strong economic trajectory continues today and is on track to generate nearly half the world’s gross domestic product by 2015.