Press Statement
Reference: Marie Hilao-Enriquez
SELDA Secretary General
09272170701

In the wake of the transfer of the Marcos ill-gotten wealth from the PNB to the General Fund of the National Treasury…
SELDA condemns the secrecy of the transfer of the ill-gotten money and demands public report of where the funds are right now

SELDA, the organization of former political prisoners that initiated and won the class action suit against Marcos in the US Federal Court, expressed outrage and alarm over reports that the transferred Marcos ill-gotten funds intended for land reform and the indemnification of the martial law victims are now transferred to the General Fund and held by Bangko Sentral and the Land Bank of the Philippines.

" We condemn the transfer of the funds which was done at the height of the election campaign. It is infuriating to know that the custodianship agreement between the PNB and the National Treasury has already been terminated in March 2004, and the funds were transferred to the General Fund supposedly under a special account," said Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general of SELDA.

SELDA learned of the surreptitious fund transfer from information coming from the peace talks. It was learned that the Department of Budget and the National Treasury confirmed the termination of the custodianship agreement between the PNB and the National Treasury, granting the former custodianship of the $624 million Marcos ill-gotten account. The money was "liquidated" and transferred to the General Fund under a special account. The letters of the National Treasury and the Department of Budget both mentioned that money couldn't be allocated for the compensation of martial law victims, as there is no law that authorizes such allocation.

"Even if the government says that the money is under a special account in the General Fund, the victims of martial law have no assurance that the funds will not be dissipated. Malacanang may order the disbursements of funds to any so-called government projects especially that there is no law as yet passed to compensate the victims," Enriquez said.

President Arroyo has long promised to indemnify the victims of martial law. We hope that this time that she has supposedly acquired a fresh mandate; she will still keep her promise. Giving the victims a component of justice, which is indemnification, would certainly help the victims. In the meantime, her administration must publicly report to the public where the money is and show that it is still intact, " Enriquez concluded. ###