Court allows Imelda Marcos to avail of post-conviction remedies

THE Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division granted Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos's plea for permission to avail of post-conviction remedies, saying that the reasons she cited for her absence on the day the ruling was handed down "negated obstinate defiance to the court's processes."

"Inconsistencies in her reasons may have surfaced, i.e., whether she was sick or she simply didn't know but Ms. Marcos clarified firmly that 'the real reason, Your Honor, was because I did not know, I did not really know, God knows that I did not know' (TSN [Transcript of Stenographic Notes] date Nov. 16, 2018, page 5). She also states that 'even if I was sick, I would have come here because this is the law...' (TSN dated Nov. 16, 2018, page 22)," the anti-graft court said, quoting parts of the former first lady's defense.