Ill-gotten wealth and the estate taxes of the Marcoses

LOYAL supporters constantly claim that there is no proof to substantiate the existence of ill-gotten wealth by the Marcos family. This claim is devoid of truth. In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled in GR 152154 that the aggregate amount of $356 million, which was valued to have grown to $658 million at the time the ruling was made, deposited secretly in various Swiss banks and which were later turned over in escrow to the Philippine National Bank by virtue of a ruling by a Swiss court in 1998, were ill-gotten.

The high court ruled that the legally acquired income by the Marcoses would have been $304,372.43, valued at the applicable period, and any excess of these would have been unexplained wealth and was, therefore, deemed ill-gotten. In the words of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, the court said: "respondent Marcoses failed to justify the lawful nature of their acquisition of the said assets. Hence, the Swiss deposits should be considered ill-gotten wealth and forfeited in favor of the State."