MANILA, 13 May — The jewels belonging to former first lady Imelda Marcos as well as other stocks and real estate, all amounting to approximately P18 billion ($36 million) in assets seized from the estate of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos will be auctioned later this year.
These assets were placed on the sellers block a few years back but one thing or another has hampered their sale by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
This time, PCGG commissioner Ruben Carranza confirmed said the impending sale will be used to finance a gaping fiscal deficit estimated to hit P225 billion this year.
"The government has a huge budget deficit and we need to dispose of the properties to generate income as soon as possible," Carranza said, adding that the PCGG will also be disposing of Madame Imelda's jewelry collection valued by Christie's and Sotheby's as worth anywhere between $6.13 million to $12 million.
The jewelry, kept by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), will be auctioned off in August or September and Carranza said it " has always been one of the main attractions for the bidders."
The collection at BSP comprises the jewelry found at Malaca?ang when the Marcoses fled to Hawaii, those seized by the Bureau of Customs in March 9, 1986 and the ones seized by US Customs officials in Honolulu.
PCGG spokesman Nick Suarez also said that other Marcos assets will be put on the block later this year, like several million government shares in Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc., Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp., Chemfields Inc. and Oceanic Wireless Network Inc.
PCGG will also press the privatization of television station IBC-13 and the auction of several Marcos mansions in Baguio City, Suarez said.
"We hope to privatize these assets within the year with the possible sale of RPN-9 by next year," he explained.
The shares of stock of sequestered firms formerly controlled by the Marcoses are estimated to bring in some P2.8 billion while IBC-13 may fetch an additional P2.5 billion to P3 billion.
