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BAGUIO CITY: The request for custody by the city of
Baguio of the sequestered properties of former President Ferdinand
Marcos is being revived anew before the city council.
Councilor Perlita Chan-Rondez has
asked the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) to
transfer to the city sequestered Marcos properties. The matter was
brought up as early as 2005.
Rondez said the sequestered
properties could support many of the city’s projects.
In particular she referred to the
five-hectare lot along Outlook Drive where the once famous Marcos
mansion and cottages were built. The properties were sequestered by
the PCGG in 1986 in wake of the Marcos ouster.
A recent visit to the site showed
that the mansion and two cottages, including the cottage for
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., now Ilocos Norte representative, are in a
state of disrepair.
Rondez expressed concern that the
properties are reportedly being sold to private entities, which she
claimed will only benefit private individuals and not the city
government and its constituents.
“It is hereby resolved to
request the PCGG to transfer ownership of all sequestered Marcos
properties located in Baguio from its custody to the city
government,” said Rondez in her resolution.
The councilor earlier requested
the PCGG to furnish the city government a report on all the
sequestered properties of the Marcoses in the city.
She said she received a report
that the real-estate taxes on the area where the properties were
built have not been paid for years at the city treasurer’s office.
A source, meanwhile, questioned
if the city government has the money for the rehabilitation of the
properties to convert them into a tourism facility.
The source claimed that the city
has not rehabilitated the Diplomat Hotel which was turned over by
the national government to the city about four years ago.
--Harley Palangchao
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