After losing five forfeiture cases in a row, the Presidential Commission on Good Government finally notched a win as the Sandiganbayan’s Special Division ordered the forfeiture from the Marcoses of more than 146 paintings by world-renowned artists estimated to be worth at least $20 million.
The anti-graft court, in a 42-page decision dated Dec. 19, said the Marcos family’s denial of knowledge or information about the paintings, which are in the possession of the PCGG and the Solicitor General, was not enough to release the paintings from sequestration.
The Sandiganbayan’s Special Division ruled on Civil Case 0141 on Dec. 19 but released the ruling only on Thursday.
The Marcoses, the anti-graft court ruled, failed to present a single document to justify how the funds used to purchase the artworks were lawfully acquired since the amount of the paintings went beyond their lawful income.
In a ruling handed down in 2003, the Supreme Court said the Marcoses were deemed to have only earned the equivalent of $304,372.43 legally in the 20-year tenure of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
“Simply stating that one ‘specifically denies’ an allegation does not make a general denial become specific. In the case of respondents, they failed to state and substantiate how they lawfully acquired the funds used to purchase the paintings, and likewise failed to show proof that they had other legitimate sources of income aside from their combined salaries of $304,372.43, the Sandiganbayan said.
The anti-graft court ordered the forfeiture in favor of the government of at least 140 painting on the PCGG list of missing artworks.
Those were the Grandma Moses paintings, the artworks listed in a report on the Metropolitan Museum of Manila’s Art Collection and other artworks, “which may also be found to be under the control and possession of respondents [Marcoses], their agents, representatives, nominees or persons acting on their behalf.