Evil Deeds

Anomalies at the rebuilding sites of Yolanda-hit regions, including the allegations of overpricing of bunkhouses is inhuman and such level of corruption under Noynoy is the most despicable act a government and its officials are capable of against a suffering lot.

Prior to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) overpricing allegations, the Department of Social Welfare and Development was also under fire for switching of relief goods and hoarding. The Tribune found proof of the hoarding of donated foreign goods that the DSWD has been tightly guarding at the Ninoy Aquino sports stadium in Manila.

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman brushed off the allegations saying that the overflowing sports stadium is only a transit point for the donations which are then repacked and sent to the calamity-stricken areas.

The way it was stacked up showed no indication the relief items were being readied for immediate distribution as most of them have signs of having sat in the stadium floor for sometime, including in most cases mosses and cobwebs.

The piles were removed from the stadium after The Tribune came up with an article about it and were likely transferred to a more inconspicuous storage area.

A separate item was published in a UK daily relating how donations from London are finding their way to retailers of imported goods in Makati.

No investigations were made and Noynoy was satisfied with Dinky’s alibi that the allegations were politically-motivated and if there is any switching of the foreign donations with local replacements, these were being done in the local government level preferably members of the political opposition.

The allegations on the overpriced bunkhouses are also being muddled or obfuscated by both the Palace and Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson who are trying to turn around the charges, branding these are a mere complaint on the size of the temporary shelters.

“There were some concerns that the rooms assigned were too cramped,” was presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda’s understatement of the year.

The real issue, however, was that the government-built structures did not follow international specifications and at the same time grossly overpriced these bunkhouses to allow a reported 30 to 35 percent commissions for Noynoy’s men.

The issue also goes beyond the usual corrupt government practices to which Filipinos have grown used accustomed.

Squeezing kickbacks out of the sparse assistance that the government of Noynoy provides the victims of the typhoon is ruthless and barbaric.

It is skimming money out of people who were left with nothing after the lives and properties were washed out by the freak typhoon.

Incensing is the fact that the kickbacks will line the pockets of Noynoy’s fat sows whose skins are so puffed up with the fruits of the money stolen from government.

The real losers are the typhoon victims who in Palace press statements are supposed to benefit from the government projects and foreign aid.

Even the assurance of rehab czar Ping Lacson cannot soothe fears that the typhoon assistance is being turned into another opportunity for political and financial gains for Noynoy and his opportunistic mob.

Noynoy and his mob have been harping about legislators allegedly misusing the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) while blatantly stealing from the victims of the typhoon.

Stealing from PDAF & DAP is a crime while robbing the victims of the typhoon Yolanda is the highest form of evil.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/editorial/evil-deeds

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/337977/news/metromanila/yolanda-aid-diversion-us-military-rations-sold-in-makati-mall

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/photo/49565/us-military-meals-found-illegally-sold-in-makati-store

Ang Kasaysayan ng Islam sa Pilipinas:

Ang Islam ay ipinakilala sa Pilipinas noong taong 1380 CE ng isang Arabong misyonero na nagngangalang Sharif Makhdum na dumaong sa Sulu. Itinayo niya ang unang Masjid (mosque) sa Pilipinas sa lugar ng Tubig-Indangan sa pulo ng Simunol. Ang guho ng Masjid na yaon ay naroroon pa rin magpahanggang ngayon. Si Sharif Makhdum ay namatay sa pulo ng Sibutu at ang kanyang puntod sa ngayon ay patuloy na dinadalaw ng mga turista.

Noong 1390 CE, si Rajah Baginda ay dumating sa Buansa at kanyang ipinagpatuloy ang mga gawain ni Sharif Makhdum. Si Abu Bakr ay dumating sa Jolo noong 1450 CE at di nagtagal ay nag-asawa siya sa anak ni Rajah Baginda na nagngangalang Putri (Prinsesa) Paramisuli. Si Abu Bakr ang nagtatag ng Sultanata ng Sulu kaya’t siya at ang kanyang asawa ang naging mga unang Sultan at Sultana ng kalupaan.

Pagkaraan na maitatag ang Islam sa Sulu, ang mga Muslim ay nagsilikas papunta sa Mindanao at si Sharif Kabungsuan ang siyang namuno ng delegasyon. Siya ay lumunsad sa Maguindanaw (na ngayon ay Cotabato) noong taong 1475 CE at di nagtagal ay nag-asawa siya kay Putri Tunina. Sila ang mga unang Sultan at Sultana ng Maguindanaw.

Sa mga sumunod pang taon, marami pang mga Datung Muslim ang nagsidating sa Pilipinas pagkaraan nilang mabalitaan ang magandang pagtanggap na nakamit ng mga nanga-una roon. Mula sa Borneo ay nanggaling ang Sampung Datu na nagsidaong sa Panay. Ang mga Datung ito ay sina Puti, Sumakwel, Bangkaya, Dumangsol, Paiburong, Paduhinog, Lubay, Dumangsil, Dumalogdog at Balensula (na ngayon ay Balenzuela). 

Si Datu Puti ang siyang pinuno ng mga pangkat ng datu. Nagkataon kasi na siya ay bihasang manlalayag. Sila ay dumaong sa San Joaquin, Iloilo (na ang pangalan ng panahong yaon ay Siwaragan).

Binili nina Datu Puti at ng siyam pang Datu ang kababaang lupain sa Iloilo mula kay Marikudo, ang pinuno ng Atis (Pygmies), at sila ay nagtatag ng pamayanan doon.

Nang ang mga lupaing nasasakupan (mga kolonya) ng Borneo ay matatag nang nakatindig sa Panay, sina Datu Puti, Datu Balensula at Datu Dumangsil ay naglakbay papunta sa hilaga at sila ay lumunsad sa Batangas sa Luzon.

Sina Datu Balensula at Datu Dumangsil ay nagtatag ng mga kolonya roon nguni’t si Datu Puti ay bumalik sa Borneo sa landas ng Mindoro at Palawan. Isinalaysay niya ang kanilang pakikipagsapalaran sa mga tagaBorneo at dahil doon ay marami pa ang naakit na magtungo sa Pilipinas.

Sa panahon nang lumunsad si Magallanes sa Limasawa noong Marso 16, 1521 CE, ang Pilipinas ay isa nang ganap na bansang Muslim sapagkat ang karamihan ng kanyang mamamayan ay mga Muslim. Ito’y isang katotohanan sa kasaysayan nang si Legaspi (ang humalili kay Magallanes) ay dumating sa Pilipinas, ang mga kahariang Muslim ay matatag nang nakatindig sa Batangas, Pampanga, Mindoro, Panay, Catanduanes,Cebu, Bohol, Samar, Manila, Palawan bukod pa sa buong Mindanao at mga pulo ng Sulu.

Noong Hunyo 3, 1571 CE, ang mga Kastila ay naglungsad ng malaking digmaan sa mga Muslim sa Manila na pinangungunahan ni Rajah Solaiman, ang pinuno ng mga Sultan sa Luzon. Si Rajah Solaiman ay buong katapangan na nagtanggol sa kanyang kaharian hanggang sa huling patak ng kanyang dugo sa Bangkusay (baybay dagat ng Tondo). Pagkaraang malupig si Solaiman, ang mga Kastila ay nanalanta sa Luzon at pumatay ng mga kalalakihan, kababaihan at mga bata, bata at matanda man. Sa isang banda, ang mga Muslim ay nakipaglaban hanggang sa huling hibla ng kanilang hininga, na gamit ang mga bolo at sibat laban sa mga baril at kanyon. Ang mga Kastila ay nagtatag ng kanilang kabisera sa Manila at nagbalak na sakupin ang Visayas. Sa maigsing panahon, sila ay nagtagumpay sa Visayas. Ang mga Muslim na hindi namatay sa digmaan ay napilitang talikuran ang kanyang pananampalataya at tanggapin ang Kristiyanismo. Datapuwa’t ang mga magigiting na Muslim ay nagnais na piliin ang libingan kaysa ang lumapastangan ng laban kay Allah. Sa ibang banda, ang mga katutubo na mahina sa kanilang pananampalataya ay tumanggap sa relihiyon ng Kastila.

Ang mga Kastila ay hindi pa tumigil sa Luzon at Visayas. Sila ay buong kasakiman na nangangarap na mapasakanila ang mayamang lupain ng Mindanao. Datapuwa’t ang mga tribu ng Maranaw, Maguindanaw, Tausog, Yakan, Samal at Sangil ay pumigil sa mga Kastila. Kaya’t ang bantog na digmaan ng mga Muslim at Kastila ay nagsimula. Mayroong dalawang dahilan ang digmaan:

1. Ang mga Kastila ay nagnais na pamahalaan ang mga Muslim, datapuwa’t ang mga Muslim ay nagmamahal sa kanilang kalayaan at mamatamisin pa ang mamatay kaysa maging alipin.


2. Ang mga Kastila ay nangangaral ng Kristiyanismo sa dulo ng espada, kaya’t ang mga Muslim ay humawak ng kris upang ipagtanggol ang Islam hanggang katapusan.


Ang mga iba’t ibang Datu na nagtanggol sa Mindanao laban sa mga mananalakay ay sina:

1. Si Sultan Pangiran ng mga Tausog na nagtanggol sa mga lugar ng Zamboanga at Sulu.
2. Si Datu Sirungan at ang kanyang kapatid na si Datu Ubal ng Maguindanaw ang siyang nakapatay kay Kapitan Figueroa sa lipon ng sumasalakay na Kastila.
3. Bilang ganti sa paglusob na ginawa ng mga Kastila sa Mindanao, si Datu Sirungan ng Maguindanaw at Datu Buisan ng Sultanata ng Lanao ay naglunsad ng ganting paglusob sa Visayas. Nilusob nila angCebu, Negros at Panay at nadakip nila ang maraming Kristiyano na ginawa nilang mga alipin.
4. Si Datu Tagal ng Cotabato ay nakapatay ng maraming mandirigmang Kastila at nakabihag ng maraming Kristiyanong alipin.
5. Si Sultan Kudarat ng Cotabato ay nagtanggol sa Lamitan hanggang sa siya ay mapilitan na umurong sa Iligan dahilan sa nakakahigit na mga sandata ng mga Kastila.
6. Si Sultan Bungsu ng Zamboanga ay lumaban ng buong kabagsikan sa mga mananalakay. Nang ang kanyang asawang si Pangian Tuan Baloca ay mabihag ng mga Kastila ay pinag-ibayo niya ang kanyang pakikidigma hanggang sa mapalaya niya ang Jolo noong taong 1645 CE sa mga Kastila at ipinag-utos niya ang pagwasak sa garison ng Kastila na itinayo sa Zamboanga.
7. Sina Sultan Jamaluddin Al Alam at Sultan Badruddin III ay patuloy na nagtanggol sa Mindanaohanggang sa pagdating ng mga Briton. Sapagkat hindi nagawang lupigin ng Espanya ang mga Muslim, sila ay lumagda sa kasunduan ng kapayapaan at bumayad ng mga buwis kay Jamaluddin at Badruddin.
8. Si Datu Udtog ng Cotabato ang pumatay kay Gobernador Emilio Terrero ng mga Kastila.
9. Si Datu Ali of Balo-i, Lanao ang pumatay sa Gobernador ng Misamis na si Valeriano Weyler.
10. Ang matapang na mga Maranaw ang pumatay kay Heneral Ramon Blanco sa panahon ng huling pagtatangka ng mga Kastila na masakop ang Mindanao.

Ang pamamahala ng Espanya ay nagwakas noong taong 1898 CE at ang mga Amerikano ang humalili sa pamamahala mula sa mga Kastila.

Pagkaraan ng mahigit sa TATLONG DAANG TAON ng pagtatangka na masakop ang mga Muslim, ang Espanya ay nabigo at ang mga Muslim sa Mindanao ay matagumpay na naipagtanggol ang Islam saMindanao at Sulu.

Gayundin ang nangyari sa mga Amerikano at mga Hapon na nagtangka rin na sakupin sila.

ANG ISLAM AY LAGING MAGWAWAGI, INSHA’ALLAH

CRUELTY OF NOYNOY "P'NOY" AQUINO AND HIS GOVERNMENT

INTERESTING TO READ

Prologue. I was a member of Dr. Doy Laurel's UNIDO (political party) during the February 1986 presidential "snap" election. Our party founder and president was the running mate of then presidential candidate Corazon Cojuangco Aquino. All of us called her "Tita Cory." I asked the permission of Dr. Laurel to join the "Cory Aquino for President Movement (CAPM)," which was organized by Don Chino Roces. So, I joined the CAPM and was reporting directly to Don Chino. We won the election but it took the so-called "EDSA (Uno) Revolution" for Tita Cory to be proclaimed as the duly-elected President of the Philippines. As alas, as I wrote in my 1993 political novel, "One Day in the Life of a Filipino Sonovabitch," many Cory Crusaders became the "Sorry Crusaders." We became so sorry for helping elect a leader who performed worse than her predecessor.


On March 30, 1995, I wrote a "confidential letter" to the Board of Trustees of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. Hereunder is my letter in its entirety, warts and all. For all the frustrations that I had as a "Sorry Crusader," the said letter made me feel vindicated. I never got mad at the person of President Aquino. But my letter got me even with Tita Cory.

This is the first time that the said letter is published. Copies of it were sent to several national leaders of the Philippines and quite a few Filipino diplomats and tourism officials. After more-than 12 years, this writer has decided to publish it as part of the articles in the "Philippine Presidency" section of the www.mabuhayradio.com. After all, it is now the intention of this writer to eventually become one of the country's leading "Philippine Presidents'" historians.


QUOTE.
The Board of Trustees
The Pearl S. Buck Foundation
P. O. Box 181
Perkasie, Pennsylvania 18944

Gentlemen and Ladies,

This is about the Pearl S. Buck Woman's Award that you plan to give to former President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino. We understand that you have scheduled the awarding on June 5, 1995, at the United Nations in New York City.

We most respectfully request you to withhold the giving of the award. For Mrs. Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino to qualify for the award, she must first address the Filipino people and the Overseas Filipinos the following issues that we raised from 1992 up to the present:

1.0 Why did she approve in January 1992 the sale of 67% of the stocks of the Philippine Air Lines (PAL) to an investment group headed by one of her Tanjuatco, and three Cojuangco, nephews? We argued that the sale resulted in a $300-million, or more, loss to the Filipino people. The Philippine government, through the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), owned the shares. And worse, her nephews did not have the money to pay for the airline stocks. They borrowed the money that they used to pay the GSIS from three Philippine government-owned banks, using the PAL stocks as collateral. Please find attached, as Annex One, a copy of my expose called, "The PAL Scandal," for your perusal and evaluation.

1.1 I have publicly stated that if they found my publication libelous, Mrs. Aquino and her nephews could sue me for libel in Los Angeles, California. Up to now, they have not filed any libel suit. On the other hand, reliable reports have reached me in California that I should not go back because the kin of Mrs. Aquino would "bury me alive" once I land in Manila.

1.2 As part of "The PAL Scandal," I reported later that it was Mrs. Aquino who authorized in 1992 the sale of the PAL Building in San Francisco, California. It resulted, according to the column of the late journalist, Louie Beltran, into a $6-million loss to the national airline. She did not charge Mr. Beltran with libel on this issue about the PAL Building. She, however, filed a libel case against Mr. Beltran and his publisher, Maximo V. Soliven, when the late columnist wrote that Mrs. Aquino "hid under her bed during a coup d'etat attempt at the presidential palace in Manila."

2.0 Why did she permit, during her first month in office, the transfer of the 38 companies that Marcos's brother-in-law, Kokoy Romualdez, owned? The 38 firms were transferred to her brother-in-law, Ricardo "Baby" Lopa. The assets of the Marcoses, the Romualdezes and their cronies were supposed to have been sequestered by the new Aquino administration. But Kokoy Romualdez's 38 companies, which were worth billions of pesos, were not turned over to the Presidential Commission on Good Government. I narrated the illegal and immoral transfer of the ill-gotten wealth in my political novel, One Day in the Life of a Filipino Sonovabitch. Please find with this letter a copy of the book, as Annex Two. My book describes the details of Baby Lopa's caper in Chapter XVI.

2.1 The same case happened in the matter of the Philippine Long Distance Company. Instead of sequestering the company for the Philippine government as it was then controlled by the Marcos cronies, she returned the billion-dollar company to her Cojuangco nephews. She claimed that her nephews were illegally eased out by Mr. Marcos. The truth was that the Marcos cronies, whether their moneys were ill-gotten or not, paid the Cojuangcos the prevailing market-stock prices during the sale of equity that happened between them at the time when Marcos was still president.

2.2 I dared, again for the nth time, when my book was launched in December 1993, for Mrs. Cory Cojuangco-Aquino or any of her relatives to file a libel case in the United States, where the book was published. Up to now, not even a demand letter from any lawyer has reached me. We consider their silence a golden admission of guilt.

3.0 Why did she approve the re-negotiation of the loans that her predecessor obtained from Japan? The administration of Mrs. Aquino agreed that the loans would be paid in Japanese yen, rather than in U.S. currency that former President Ferdinand E. Marcos negotiated. Please find a copy of our September 2, 1994, letter to Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama that brought the matter to his attention. The self-explanatory letter is submitted as Annex Three. The error of Mrs. Aquino and her financial advisers has, so far, resulted in a $5-billion (spelled with a "B"), minimum, increase in the loan principal. It added insults to the financial injury that the poor people of the Philippines now shoulder as a result of the currency-exchange difference.

4.0 Why did she tolerate, during her tenure, destitute Filipino women from leaving the country to become maids, bar hostesses, mail-order brides and prostitutes in different foreign countries? For a write-up on the plight of the Filipino women, please read Annex Four. It is called, "Frasier's Joke on Filipino Brides-for-sale Turns into a 'Slaughter in Seattle.'" Statistics would show that more impoverished women left the Philippines for foreign destinations during the six-year term of Mrs. Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino than during the 20-year reign of President Marcos. Yet Mrs. Aquino's much-vaunted publicists painted her the Filipino version of "Joan of Arc" and Marcos as the personification of evil.

4.1 During her administration, Mrs. Aquino did not bother to protest to the Japanese government the abuse of Filipino women in Japan. She did not ask the Japanese for the redress of the wartime and modern-day Filipino "comfort women's" grievances. Please refer, for more particulars, to the letter to Prime Minister Murayama (Annex Three).

4.2 Mrs. Aquino was so indifferent to the plight of the Filipino women who were working abroad. Please refer to my open letter to Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos. Submitted as Annex Five is the open letter called, "The Filipino 'Wonder Woman' Could Have Saved Flora Contemplacion in 1991." (Editor’s Notes: Excerpts of the said letter were published too in this online publication; to read them, please go to this link http://www.mabuhayradio.com/content/view/444/51/ .)


4.3 On Mrs. Aquino's track record on Filipino women alone, it is incomprehensible why she would win the "Pearl S. Buck Woman's Award?" In fact, the award to Mrs. Aquino is an insult to the Filipino womanhood. It is like awarding Judas the Nobel Prize for Economics, if the award was available then, for selling Christ for 30 pieces of silver. Would you call Judas' transaction an award-winning entrepreneur's act?

5.0 There are other instances of abuse that Mrs. Aquino and her Cojuangco kin had perpetrated. I could practically write about them, ad infinitum. Please just read my political novel. You will read some of the facts about the Aquino administration. An example is the continued defiance of Mrs. Aquino's clan of the Land Reform Code. They refuse to divide their Luisita Hacienda among the tenants. The irony was that the Congress enacted the Land Reform law during the administration of Mrs. Aquino.

The American people never tolerate injustice, greed and the abuse of power. Americans will condemn your choice for the 1995 Pearl S. Buck Woman's Award once they get to know the truth about Mrs. Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino and her clique. Americans never like to see acts of injustice committed against the impoverished people of the Philippines, where a majority earns less than an American dollar a day.

We most respectfully urge you not to give the award to Mrs. Aquino until she complies with the demands stated in this letter. Mrs. Aquino's record is slowly, albeit surely, becoming a socioeconomic and political minefield.

If you proceed with the award ceremony in New York on June 5, 1995, please expect a public demonstration, coast to coast, against your decision. If you and Mrs. Aquino are callous enough, then you all end up in the dustbin of history as some of the coldest, heartless, insensitive, apathetic and soulless creatures the world has known.

I have labeled this letter "Confidential." This means that I will not leak the letter to the public, yet. For I do not want to embarrass your foundation nor put Mrs. Aquino to more public ridicule. Her reputation, after all, is already soiled. If within five working days after receipt of this letter, you do not confirm the cancellation of the award to Mrs. Aquino, we will go public. This means that when we do come out in the open, it will be a total mainstream media offensive. You can ask people, especially Filipino diplomats, in New York and Los Angeles, to confirm that we fight long and hard. We engineered several media campaigns in the past year. We took credit for the poor television ratings of the 1994 Miss Universe broadcast in the United States. We forced a mainstream television station in Los Angeles to delete, for its nation-wide broadcasts, the phrase, "Suspect was an Asian, possibly Filipino" that was used to describe the killer of Manhattan Beach Police Officer Martin Gantz. If we come to clash, please expect a boycott of your office in Perkasie and your activities anywhere in the United States.

Many Filipino Americans like our advocacy and our idealism. So please spare yourselves brutal, costly media and public relations wars. You can devote your resources to better uses, such as helping the Amerasian children, rather than become the American defenders of Mrs. Aquino. Likewise, on our part, the resources we will expend fighting you can be put to use helping your foundation. We have aided efforts to help the Amerasian children in the Philippines. Mrs. Aquino's position is indefensible. It's like fighting for a lost cause. It's like trying to become a stowaway on the SS Titanic. You know, it's hard to beat an army of Dons Quixote that eats controversial causes for breakfast. We do not think that too many bureaucrats can match our zeal and dedication to causes we believe in. We bet that not even one member of your Board of Trustees will put his or her life on the line for the sake of corrupt leaders like Mrs. Aquino. On the other hand, we have been risking our lives for Philippine and American causes. We also have put our wallets into our mouths.

We finally want to tell you why are activists. Please find a copy of our report called, "Connie Chung Now Knows the Plight of the American Veterans of Filipino Ancestry." It is submitted as Annex Six. In it, we said that we live Ms. Jessica Mitford's motto, "'You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty.' . . .I said that if I could put to shame the corrupt bureaucrats, then my writings would have mattered. If my writings could publicize the wrongdoers, then my efforts would not have been in vain. Indeed, I feel great if my writings can make the Filipinos, and Overseas Filipinos, look good and their oppressors look bad." Thank you for the attention.

Defiantly yours,


BOBBY M. REYES
Conscience of the Filipino Nation

http://www.mabuhayradio.com/philippine-presidency/not-getting-mad-at-but-getting-even-with-tita-cory

THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN TREASURE CONNECTION.

MARCOS GOLD ARTICLES
(Donated by: Bill Luttig)

Marcos Gave FVR Gold Bars -- Zobel
By Donna S. Cueto
The Inquirer (October 28, 1999)

HONOLULU--Former President Fidel Ramos, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and a late congressman were each allegedly gifted with $1 million worth of gold bars by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos before he died in 1989.

This is part of the can of worms that businessman Enrique Zobel plans to open during his deposition today before the Senate blue ribbon committee, according to sources close to the tycoon.

In Manila, Ramos immediately rejected the charge. ''I categorically deny this as a falsehood and fabricated. I deny I received any gold bar or a single peso from Mr. Marcos,'' he told the INQUIRER last night.

He added: ''That Zobel statement must be considered and evaluated as totally self-serving and a complete fabrication by Mr. Marcos.''

Apart from Ramos and Enrile, the late Ilocos Sur Rep. Floro Crisologo was allegedly also given gold bars worth a million dollars.

Aside from giving independent confirmation on the Marcos gold, Zobel, 72, is also expected to relate how Marcos accumulated much of his wealth during martial law using contingents of soldiers. Their main function was allegedly to dig up and transport gold and other treasure.

''It must be remembered that Zobel was a close confidante of the Marcoses, not only at the height of their power but also during the dying days of Marcos himself,'' Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said here yesterday.

According to one source, Zobel will also relate how two relatives and officials of former President Corazon Aquino allegedly offered deals in which they wanted a cut of the Marcos wealth.

They are former congressmen Emigdio Tanjuatco and Francisco Sumulong, said the source.

Zobel, a paraplegic after his polo accident in Spain in 1991, is expected to independently confirm the existence of around $35 billion worth of Marcos gold certificates.

Zobel made the estimate in 1992 based alone on the certificates which Marcos showed him in Honolulu in 1988, when the late strongman allegedly tried to borrow $250 million from the businessman to pay the accumulated salaries of Marcos loyalists.

Marcos allegedly showed the gold certificates to prove to Zobel that he could pay back the desired loan.

Zobel's estimate places the Marcoses' wealth much higher than the reported $13.2-billion ''I. Arenetta'' account at the Union Bank of Switzerland.

Zobel's testimony will revolve mostly around events before 1991 and will not touch on the $13.2-billion account, according to former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez.

Senate panelists are scheduled to take the deposition of the wheelchair-bound business magnate at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Philippine consulate here.

Marcos met with Zobel before he became extremely ill. The deposed president allegedly expressed a desire to set up a foundation or trust fund to eventually transfer at least 75 percent of the Marcos wealth to the Filipinos.

Only around 10 percent would remain with the family. Former first lady Imelda Marcos was aghast at the idea and wanted to raise the share to 15 percent, the source said.

The meetings on the foundation were the subject of a series of interviews with Zobel published in the INQUIRER in 1992.

In those interviews, however, he made no mention of Ramos and the other officials receiving the gold bars.



What happened to Gold?

Most of the gold bars, and other treasure dug up by the soldiers were allegedly re-minted at the Central Bank.

From 1983 to 1985, Tamaraw Security Services allegedly transported some of the gold bars via Cathay Pacific and American President Lines.

Tamaraw was owned by the late Fabian Ver, Marcos' closest military adviser and former Armed Forces Chief of Staff.

The bars were reportedly shipped to Johnson and Matthiey's, a renowned gold assayer.

The sources said Zobel would talk about how Marcos gave a total of $3 million worth of the gold to Ramos, Enrile and Crisologo. The three, they said, were suspected to have had secret accounts in Swiss banks like the Marcoses.

Ramos was the military vice chief of staff and Enrile, defense minister, when they turned against Marcos in 1986 in the People Power revolt that ousted the late dictator.


Ramos: Enzo Misled

The sources did not say why Marcos might have given so much gold to men who had betrayed him.

''Enzo (Zobel's nickname) was just quoting Marcos, not a lawyer or a hearing body. You know how lacking in credibility Marcos had become over the years,'' Ramos said in Manila before leaving on a trip to Bangkok.

''I always considered Mr. Zobel a good friend, an upright citizen and a patriotic Filipino. But this time, he was completely misled by Mr. Marcos who was just using him.,'' he said.

''It must be remembered I fought Marcos during the fading years of his administration, causing his downfall. For this reason, Marcos had no reason to give me gold bars or even one peso,'' said the former president.

''Why did Marcos not tell anyone of his intention to give me gold bars when I was fighting his administration when he was still alive?'' Ramos added.


Sincere?

Before he died, Marcos was sincere about pouring his wealth into a trust foundation to help the Filipino people, the sources quoted Zobel as saying.

There were also officials of the Presidential Commission on Good Government who allegedly approached Zobel regarding a deal to recover the Marcos wealth, offering him a share if he revealed what he knew.

But the PCGG officials all allegedly wanted a cut of any recovered wealth.

Even former PCGG Chair Magtanggol Gunigundo once allegedly offered 5 percent of recovered Marcos assets to Zobel for his cooperation and information on the secret Marcos accounts.

Zobel has a document of the supposed agreement, signed by Ms Marcos--but not by Gunigundo.


European Contact

According to the sources, Zobel also has a European contact who holds information on where other Marcos deposits are stored.

This second witness, however, will not be able to testify, although the Senate was originally planning to take the deposition of both Zobel and this witness in Hawaii.

Once Zobel finishes his testimony--other witnesses, including some of the soldiers who supposedly dug up the gold for Marcos in the 1970s--are expected to agree to testify at the Senate hearings.

Chavez yesterday clarified that Zobel was not his witness but a resource person of the Senate.


Still long way off

Pimentel, who arrived here yesterday, said the Senate would pursue any substantial leads supplied by Zobel, particularly on the Marcos gold deposits.

But Pimentel also said that unless Zobel's testimony included the location of the deposits, the Senate would still have a lot of work to do.

If Zobel confirms the gold, the Senate committee will have gathered only 50 to 60 percent of the evidence it needs, according to Pimentel, head of the blue ribbon committee.


''We're just building the database'' on the Marcoses' hidden wealth, Pimentel said.

''Number one, even if Zobel says something about the gold bars, the next question is where are these now? Who keeps the gold certificates or the gold bars?'' he asked.

Pimentel said that, if necessary he would expand the investigation to include other personalities, if doing so would help the senators get to the bottom of the Marcoses' secret wealth.

He said he wanted to build a ''solid'' wall of evidence with which to confront Swiss authorities, enough to pursue the recovery of Marcos assets through diplomatic negotiations.

''The Swiss would become accomplices or co-conspirators (in money laundering) if they continued to deny the existence of these Marcos accounts and gold deposits even if there were solid and corroborating evidence presented to them,'' Pimentel said.


Bad news for Ani

Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez, who also arrived here with Pimentel, yesterday said that happy days were over for Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, who had dismissed at least 27 behest loan cases against the Marcoses and their cronies.

Galvez said a Supreme Court decision overturning the Ombudsman's ruling on one of the cases meant that Desierto could no longer dismiss such cases on a technicality.

Desierto in 1997 and 1998 dismissed most of the behest loan cases on the grounds of prescription--that the government had filed the cases belatedly, or 10 to 15 years after the loans were made.

If it could be proven that Desierto had violated the Constitution, Galvez said, this could lead to his impeachment.

''But this is difficult,'' he added. ''The mere fact that he acted wrongly does not render him culpable, or mean that he acted with malice.''


Chavez fights Hotel

Chavez got himself into a near scuffle last night at the hotel here where the senators are billeted. It arose out of the hotel management's strict rules on video interviews of Philippine officials.

The close brawl occurred between Chavez and the assistant manager Joseph Thurber of Ala Moana Hotel.

The hotel management had earlier decided to ban filmed interviews of Philippine officials in and around the hotel premises without the hotel's permission.

Later, it designated a specific area in the hotel for the interviews. ABS-CBN was conducting an interview with Chavez in the hotel lobby at around 8:30 p.m. yesterday when Thurber stopped them and told TV reporter Mon Ilagan about the hotel's ban on interviews.


A heated argument ensued between Chavez and Thurber.

The hotel officer insisted that no interviews should be held in that part of the lobby. Chavez refused to budge and branded the hotel's policy ''undemocratic.''

Thurber threatened to call the police. Chavez dared him to do so, but the hotel official did not.

Chavez then called Thurber an ''asshole'' and challenged him to a boxing match. He also threatened to sue the hotel.

With a report from Armand Nocum


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Have You Heard Of Vatican Gold?

The Inquirer (October 29, 1999)

DAVAO CITY--A former Catholic priest here claims to have evidence that the alleged Marcos gold horde is composed of World War II ''Yamashita gold and Vatican gold.''

Ex-priest Marcelino Tagle of Bataan, a former director of Caritas Manila and one of the nation's ''Ten Outstanding Young Men'' in 1967, said in a recent interview that the nation ''should benefit'' from the Marcos gold, which he estimated at ''10 trillion dollars.''

Ten trillion dollars is 10 times more than the gross national product of China in 1998; around 127 times more than the GNP of the Philippines last year; and almost 10 times the combined worth of the world's 200 richest known billionaires in 1999. ''I am ready to substantiate and defend my claims for the benefit of the Filipino people,'' Tagle said when told that his claims were preposterous.

The former priest said he once served as an adviser of the late President Ferdinand Marcos and administrator for the estate of another man whom he claimed was the source of the Marcos gold.

But because Marcos was allegedly able to gain control of the gold certificates and cover the paper trail, according to Tagle, ''it is almost impossible to recover them without piecing the various pieces like a mosaic.''

Tagle said the gold certificates and bullion were deposited in at least 15 countries.

How the Vatican and Yamashita treasure reached the Philippines is a story that, he claims, involves two of the century's most influential personalities--Adolf Hitler and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.


Royal Gold

Tagle said the Vatican gold included ''gold bars captured by Hitler (which belonged) to the royalties of Europe of which the Vatican was the trustee.''

It also included ''royal gold'' which the British reportedly shipped to Singapore for safekeeping in the event that Hitler would conquer all of Europe. Tagle said the Vatican entrusted the treasure to a certain Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz, who assumed several names when he moved to the Philippines.

One of his aliases, according to Tagle, was ''Col. Severino Sto. Romana.'' Tagle said Sto. Romana hired the young Marcos as his lawyer and trustee. He said the Sto. Romana gold was ''actually more than the Marcos gold, about $50 trillion, but this treasure is tied up with the Marcos gold.''

Tagle, co-administrator of the Sto. Romana estates, said the Yamashita treasure was recovered through the help of MacArthur and Yamashita's wife.

But an estimated 400,000 metric tons from both the Marcos and Sto. Romana gold, he said, ''are still in the country, hidden in caves.''


For lack of Documents

The heirs of Sto. Romana were unable to recover the assets ''for lack of original documents and (because of the) nature of the accounts (which required) full cooperation of nominees and trustees constituted by the late President Marcos.''

Appearing before the Senate blue ribbon committee on Oct. 14, 1997, Tagle said Marcos, as lawyer and chief trustee of Sto. Romana, ''succeeded in isolating the nominees or trustees of the gold certificates from the physical assets--so much so that it is almost impossible to recover them without piecing the various pieces like a mosaic.'' Tagle said the ''Marcos gold'' was ''not stolen from the Philippine government.''

Instead, said the former priest, Marcos abused his authority by using the Central Bank to transact the gold.

Tagle, who is presently in Davao City as consultant of gold prospectors, said he was ready to substantiate his claims.

He allegedly went into exile in the United States in September 1969 because the Marcoses were displeased about his leading a protest against graft and corruption in the Bureau of Customs.

He resigned from the priesthood and married. He is now chair and chief executive officer of International Consultex Inc., a New York-based mining, consultancy and engineering firm.


A lot of Money

The Senate is conducting public hearings on the Marcos wealth, revolving around a $13.4-billion Swiss bank account once allegedly kept by Irene Marcos Araneta. Former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez is presenting the evidence.

''Chavez knows what he is talking about,'' said Tagle, adding that the Marcos wealth was so huge that even Marcos' widow Imelda did not know its exact worth.

If Tagle's $10-trillion estimate of the Marcos wealth were true, the Marcoses would be around 111 times richer than ''the richest man in the world,'' Microsoft chief Bill Gates. Forbes Magazine in June estimated Gates' fortune at $90 billion.

Ten trillion dollars is also 56 times more than the combined net worth of the top 50 billionaires in Asia, and almost 1,111 times the combined net worth of four Filipino billionaires who made it to the 1999 list.


The Marcos family was not on that List.

The amount is also equivalent to almost half of the combined GNP of the world's top 10 economies in 1998. It would take approximately 4500 people--counting uninterrupted at a rate of one dollar per second--70 years to count $10 trillion.


Seven-point Solution

Tagle said among the first things government should do to recover the wealth is to abolish the Presidential Commission on Good Government which has spent ''millions of dollars'' but has ''failed to produce the desirable results in bringing back the gold assets for the benefit of the Filipino people.''

Tagle proposed a ''seven-point solution'' to the problem of recovering the Marcos wealth: Create a Global Trust Fund to ''secure, recover and distribute the assets of Marcos in an out-of-court settlement.'' Have ''banking groups lend money to the Trust using the gold certificates and physical assets deposited in the lending banks, for a period of 15-20 years.''

The proceeds should be used to ''pay the Philippine debt'' and to fund ''education, social services, medical needs, and generate jobs by building new plants, roads, transport facilities, communication, irrigation, energy development, etc.'' Probate courts ''should assist in determining the rightful heirs and beneficiaries (of the wealth) and effect compromise agreements with primary and secondary beneficiaries.''


Government and all beneficiaries should ''agree on their respective'' Shares.

''Adequate compensation should be given to human rights victims.'' ''Put a major portion of the funds into the development of Mindanao and other depressed areas of the Philippines by creating new centers of industrial development and free trading zones.''

''Establish an Asia-Pacific gold trading house in Subic backed up by a gold refinery, jointly operated by the Central Bank and private gold hallmark companies.'' ''Call a general and sectoral conference on the Marcos gold. World banking officials and lawyers involved in recovering the wealth must be invited.''

-- Carolyn O. Arguillas, Chief, PDI Mindanao Bureau; with a report from PDI Research


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Zobel Says Marcos Hid $100-B Wealth
By Donna S. Cueto
The Inquirer (October 29, 1999)

HONOLULU--There is allegedly around $100 billion worth of Marcos wealth stashed all over the globe, including US Treasury and Federal Reserve notes, as well as assets being kept by the Vatican.

So testified business magnate Don Enrique Zobel, who yesterday appeared before the Senate blue ribbon committee at the Philippine consulate here to ''open a Pandora's box.''

''This is the first time the US Treasury has been mentioned as a depository of at least a portion of the Marcos wealth,'' said Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., head of the investigating panel, after Zobel's four-hour long testimony.

The businessman also showed the committee a photocopy of what he said was a $161-million US Treasury note in Marcos' name.

''It's in the name of Mr. Marcos. It looks like this $161 million is being held by the US Treasury until now,'' Pimentel said.

Sen. Juan Flavier, a member of the investigating committee, said he believed the document was authentic. ''The credibility of Don Enrique Zobel is of the highest order,'' he said.

''I've known him for 30 years. He's a leading industrialist and banker, and a man whose integrity has always been at the highest level,'' Flavier said.

Zobel testified that Marcos in 1988 had shown him gold certificates worth around $35 billion, deposited in several countries, including Switzerland, Portugal, the United States, the Vatican City, Spain and the Solomon Islands, among others.

Zobel estimated that the Marcos fortune would reach $100 billion ''between gold, assets and dollars, (and judging from) over-all comments of even banker-friends.''

Zobel, who was paralyzed from the neck down after a polo accident in 1991, said he had nothing to gain by making his claims.

''I'm 72 years old. I won't last much longer,'' he said in a rasping voice. ''So I feel I would like to contribute something to the Filipino people.''

Zobel testified that former President Fidel Ramos, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, the late Fabian Ver and the late Rep. Floro Crisologo were each given by Marcos $1 million worth of gold bars each.

Marcos told Zobel they were ''loyal'' men when he gave them the gold bars.

The businessman said Marcos paid Ramos and the other officials in gold bars to discourage aggressive pursuit of his assets. He did not provide other details about the alleged bribes.


'Greater Significance'

Zobel said he first talked to reporters seven years ago about his discussions with Marcos but was dismayed to see that the government did not investigate his claims.

Much of his testimony yesterday first appeared in a series of interviews published in the INQUIRER in 1992.

Pimentel said this was the first time that Zobel revealed what he knew under oath before a government body, and that his testimony now acquired ''far greater significance.''

The senator said Zobel's testimony had a ''cumulative effect'' and would help the committee gather evidence to compel the release of still-hidden Marcos assets.

''The importance therefore of Zobel's testimony is that it strengthens our resolve to press the Swiss bank authorities to return the Marcos assets,'' he said.

Asked by Pimentel why he thought it took until this year for a government body to question him, Zobel said: ''I don't know, but an educated guess is the government doesn't want the Filipino people to know the truth.''

He also said Marcos did not want his wife Imelda and children to know the extent of his wealth.

According to Zobel, when Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr., learned about the gold deposits, he allegedly blurted out in Filipino: ''Why didn't our father tell us about this?''

'The way I saw it, he never knew that his father had that much money or that much gold,'' Zobel said.


'Enough to start a War'

The Marcos gold was worth so much that a US contact of Zobel's said that the dictator's wealth was sought after by other countries, according to the businessman.

Zobel said his contact told him that the US government believed the fortune was large enough to finance or start a war.

He spoke at length about revelations made to him by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1988, one year before he died.

He said that he had received information that part of the Marcos wealth also came from Nazi gold brought by the Japanese to the Philippines during World War II. He said Marcos told him that most of his gold was composed of ''Yamashita treasure'' and gold bars he bought at $20 each from soldiers.


$161-M treasury Note

Zobel presented a copy of the US Federal Reserve Note or Treasury Deposit apparently placed by Marcos in the amount of $161 million. He said the note was renewed several times.


''And this only involved one certificate,'' said Zobel.

The US Treasury Note bore the name of the depositor ''Mr. Ferdinand Marcos'' and had the transaction No. 65089793422199675.F.L. The certificate was marked ''International V.A. Trusty Dollar Transaction.''

Zobel could not remember how the note came into his possession or who had given it, and the investigating senators did not pursue that line of questioning.


'Any Country in World'

Marcos had sought to borrow $250 million in the fall of 1988, saying the money was needed to pay the accumulated salaries of his staff of 300 in Hawaii, Zobel said.

He said he never intended to loan Marcos any of the money, but asked Marcos how he planned to repay it.

Marcos produced a ''thick folder'' containing gold deposit certificates amounting to more than $35 billion, based on the prevailing market price of $400 per ounce, Zobel said.

''I felt they were authentic. There was no question about that,'' he said.

''I scanned through the (certificates). I was openly interested in the (number of) ounces and the location, and the locations were all over the world,'' he said.

''You name any country in the world. They even had the Solomon Islands. And of course, Switzerland,'' Zobel said.


Saudi Bankers

Zobel said he found it very curious that a day after Marcos told him about the gold, two senior officials of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia contacted him and told him to tell Marcos that they would buy the strongman's gold at a 40-percent discount.

Zobel said he communicated their offer, but Marcos said he would only agree to sell at a discount of 30 percent. The bankers then left.

''The (US) government really got mad at the situation. They didn't want Saudi Arabia to get that gold since it was enough to finance a war,'' according to Zobel.

He said the money was enough to pay the Philippine government's debt. He said that if the interest alone were distributed, Filipinos would each receive $2,000.


Foundation

Zobel and Marcos' meetings allegedly focused on the formation of a foundation to use 75 percent of the Marcos wealth for the benefit of the Filipino people.

The trust or foundation would be headed by then Papal Nuncio Bruno Tropigliani.

Zobel said Marcos felt he was dying and wanted to do something right after successfully accumulating and concealing his massive fortune.

Zobel said he told Marcos: ''You forgot one thing. You forgot you were going to die.''

Marcos allegedly set two conditions for his wealth to be turned over to the Philippines: that he would be buried in his country; and that his family would not be pursued as criminals, or be charged civilly or criminally.

The Marcos family would be given 10 percent of the assets under the agreement, Zobel said.


'Extremely Satisfied'

Starting at 2 p.m. yesterday, Zobel endured almost four hours of questioning from senators about the Marcos gold. His deposition is scheduled to resume today at 2 p.m.

A one-time Hawaii resident who now lives in Spain, Zobel, wearing a white barong, was strapped to a wheelchair throughout the hearing. He had difficulty speaking, and a secretary had to position a microphone whenever he spoke to amplify his words.

He later thanked the Senate for hearing him out. ''I'm extremely satisfied that the Senate blue ribbon has finally asked me questions because before they (people in government) never even wanted to talk to me about it,'' Zobel said.

''I felt it was my duty to reveal this to the Filipino people, particularly now that economic situation is very bad,'' he said.


Kidnap Threats

Zobel expressed readiness to testify in the other Senate hearings, particularly to accompany two other witnesses who had been waiting for Zobel to testify.

One of them was a certain Dra. Pascual, a doctor of the late President.

The Senate will also take the deposition of Australian investigator Reiner Jacobi, who first exposed the alleged $13.2-billion ''I. Arenetta'' account in the Union Bank of Switzerland.

Pimentel also said the evidence the Senate had gathered so far also showed that the Marcos gold underneath Kloten airport was still in Switzerland.

Asked if he had received threats before his deposition, Zobel said he had gotten calls threatening that his children in the Philippines would be kidnapped.

He said two people had flown in to Hawaii on the alleged instructions of the Marcoses or their allies.

He named the two as a certain retired Army Captain Luga and public relations man Bobby Dacer whom he called ''a usurer paid by the administration to confuse the issue.''


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$10-B Gold 'Custodian' To The Rescue

The Inquirer (October 30, 1999)

DAVAO CITY--Each government employee may yet enjoy this Christmas the P7,200 amelioration pay earlier scrapped by President Estrada.

That's if some 500 metric tons of gold said to be stored in Sta. Josefa, Agusan del Sur, are turned over to the government.

Ex-priest Marcelino Tagle yesterday said that he would turn over to the government ''within the next two weeks'' the gold hoard worth about $10 billion (P400 billion).

Tagle, a former director of Caritas Manila and one of the country's ''Ten Outstanding Young Men'' in 1967, claims to be the co-administrator of the Sta. Romana Estate which reportedly has both the Yamashita and Vatican gold. The former priest said the Yamashita and Vatican gold was the main source of the Marcos gold which, according to him, was valued at $10 trillion.

Tagle yesterday told the INQUIRER that Pastor Iluminado Balonga of the Remnants of the Family of God in Sta. Josefa, Agusan del Sur, had asked him to represent Balonga ''to donate to the government some 500 metric tons of gold bars.'' The gold donation can be used to pay for the amelioration pay of government workers this Christmas, cover the expected deficit of the government this year and pay part of the government debts, according to Tagle.

President Estrada last month issued an order prohibiting the granting of amelioration pay to government workers allegedly to save funds for roads and school buildings.

The scrapping of the amelioration pay prompted government employees to take to the streets.

A check with Protestant pastors in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, yielded negative information on Balonga.

The INQUIRER also checked with sources in Sta. Josefa but no one could give information on Balonga.


Guarded by armed Men

Tagle said at least 300 armed men were guarding the area where the 500 tons of gold bars were kept. Groups including the military and cashiered Col. Alexander Noble are reportedly after the gold but could not penetrate the area, according to Tagle.


Noble could not be reached for Comment.

Tagle, however, said that the tribal community in Sta. Josefa should benefit the most from the sale of the gold.

The former priest said Balonga had wanted half of the $10 billion to go to the government and the other half to the tribal community and the other people who had helped the pastor.

He said the pastor was authorized by 47 datus (local chieftains) to donate the gold.

''Pastor Balonga should be congratulated for his good intention of donating the gold,'' Tagle said. ''And there will be more (gold),'' the ex-priest said, adding that ''almost half of the gold hoard from the Yamashita treasures and the Hitler gold 'or the Vatican gold' are in the Philippines.''


Meeting with Zamora

Tagle said a Jesuit priest was making arrangements for his meeting with Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora and Mr. Estrada next week to discuss the donation.

He said his initial estimate of the value of the Marcos gold was ''only the tip of the iceberg.'' He said he was in close touch with the members of a committee of a Marcos Foundation currently chaired by Doña Maria Gosilatar.

Gosilatar became the chair of the foundation after Gen. Fabian Ver died last year, according to Tagle.

Tagle said Ver knew a lot about the Marcos gold hoard and his mistress, Edna Camcam ''is very knowledgeable about this.''

Tagle wants the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to explain what happened to the 132,000 metric tons of gold deposited in New York. A metric ton of gold is worth around $10 million, according to Tagle. ''Tayo ang pinakamayaman na bansa sa buong mundo. Tapos nagpapalimos tayo (We are the world's richest country. But why are we begging)?'' Tagle said. He said the country's wealth was ''confirmed by World Metal Preciux which is owned by Swiss banks and which controls the world's gold supply.''

The resigned Catholic priest said the World Bank was making the Philippines bow to its demands even as it was lending part of the Marcos gold to the country.

''Kawalanghiyaan yan eh (That's a shameless behavior),'' he said.

Tagle said Don Enrique Zobel was ''telling the truth'' when the business magnate claimed that some $100-billion worth of Marcos wealth included US Treasury notes and assets being kept by Vatican.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile has described Zobel's allegation as ''fantastic as King Solomon's mines.'' The former priest said Enrile was downplaying the extent of the Marcos wealth. Tagle dared Enrile to sue him.

---- Carolyn O. Arguillas, PDI Mindanao Bureau


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Chocolate Bars, Maybe, Says Ramos
By Armand Nocum
The Inquirer (October 31, 1999)

HE MAY not have any gold bars, but is anyone interested in a few chocolate bars instead? Unlike Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, former President Fidel Ramos yesterday managed to make light of businessman Enrique Zobel's claim that the late Ferdinand Marcos had given each of them $1 million worth of bullion.

''President Marcos had no reason to give me anything of value. I think what he had for me was hatred, not gold bars,'' Ramos said, citing his role in the chain of events leading to the Marcoses' downfall. ''Maybe we're talking about chocolate bars,'' Ramos told reporters, smiling and apparently unruffled by what he dismissed as a ''wild yarn.''

The former president, who flew in from Bangkok Friday night, joked with airport reporters that he would share the alleged treasure if he actually had it.

''I'll share the bars with you, even if they are just chocolate,'' he said.

His approach to the issue contrasted sharply with Enrile's.

Minutes after arriving from Germany on Thursday, Enrile vowed to bring Zobel to court, along with newspapers that printed the story.

Ramos, on the other hand, said he would not sue anyone, adding that he could take ''severe castigation'' even during his presidency. ''Iba naman ang ugali ko (My attitude is different),'' he said of his dealings with the press.

Over the past couple of days, a furious Enrile has accused Zobel of, among other things, insanity. ''Stupid'' was also how Enrile described Zobel's deposition to Senate investigators in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ramos, however, chose to be diplomatic. ''I know (Zobel) to be an upright and patriotic Filipino who means well for Filipinos, but in later years, because of his disability, he may no longer be fully in control,'' Ramos said, without elaborating. Zobel, 72, has been paralyzed from the neck down since suffering a polo accident
in 1991.

Ramos said Zobel's estimate of the Marcos hidden fortune--$100 billion--was ''mind-boggling.'' It's as if ''dollars grow on trees,'' he said. He added that he couldn't imagine anyone having that much money.

Ramos was in Bangkok to address a forum organized by the Institute for Infrastructure Finance of Institutional Investors of New York. The evening he left for Thailand, he told the INQUIRER that he ''categorically denied'' Zobel's claim as a ''falsehood and fabrication.''


Never a Crony

Public relations man Bubby Dacer, who flew in from Hawaii late Friday night, again denied Zobel's charge that he was a ''usurer paid by the administration to confuse the issue.'' ''I've never been a crony to anybody,'' Dacer said.

He said he never went anywhere near the Philippine Consulate and that reporters who covered Zobel's deposition could attest to that.

Dacer said it was ''unfair'' for the INQUIRER to link him to the issue without getting his side of the story.

The paper reported Zobel's claim to senators that Dacer was in Hawaii on instructions of the Marcoses or their cronies. The next day, the INQUIRER reported Dacer's denial. Zobel had also claimed a certain ''Captain Luga'' was also sent to Honolulu by the Marcoses or their allies.

Dacer yesterday appeared to know who Zobel was talking about, and took the time to deny that Luga had been in Hawaii at all.

'I can get documents showing Luga has not left the country. He is not even a captain, but a sergeant,'' Dacer said.


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Jacobi To Reveal New Irene Account
By Donna S. Cueto
The Inquirer (November 4, 1999)

AUSTRALIAN investigator Reiner Jacobi will reveal new account numbers under new names in new banks to trace what happened to Irene Marcos Araneta's alleged $13.2-billion account, according to former Solicitor General Francisco Chavez. The lawyer also spoke yesterday of an ''international monitoring network'' which studies ''movements of the Marcos gold and other accounts.''

Jacobi will divulge the ''final piece of evidence'' to link the account to the daughter of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the ''appropriate time,'' Chavez said.

The evidence will include proof of the transfer of certain accounts under Client No. 885931, he said. Chavez also said other witnesses, aside from Jacobi, would ''unload very vital evidence'' of the gold hoard and of the Araneta account.

At least three witnesses are expected to be called this month to corroborate industrialist Enrique Zobel's testimony regarding alleged Marcos gold deposits which he valued at $35 billion.

One is the leader of an alleged group of soldiers in the 1970s whose main work was to dig gold and other buried treasure for the Marcoses.

Chavez said he wanted Jacobi to be the final witness in the Senate's investigation of the alleged Marcos hidden fortune, so his evidence would not be ''diluted.''

The Senate blue ribbon committee is scheduled to take Jacobi's deposition in Australia this month. Most of the funds under the account held by Marcos foundation Sandy Anstalt, including the ''I. Arenetta'' account, were allegedly transferred from the Union Bank of Switzerland.

On March 10, two days after Jacobi's lawyer filed a case against the Presidential Commission on Good Government in the Sandiganbayan and the same day that it was reported in the INQUIRER, the account was allegedly ''muted.''

That was when transactions on the account stopped, Chavez said. The account was allegedly collapsed on April 30.
Sources said that all but one dormant sub-account under the mother account were closed or transferred.

''If they think we have no eyes or ears, they are mistaken,'' Chavez said.


Banker's Admission

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., chair of the blue ribbon committee, said the Senate would use the admission of UBS official Hans Peter Bauer to compel the recovery of Marcos deposits.

''We could use this official's admission to push diplomatically, upon instruction of the President, further recovery of the Marcos wealth at UBS,'' he said.

Bauer, the bank's chief internal watchdog, made the admission on Sept. 16 at a conference on economic crimes and money-laundering in Cambridge, England.

Bauer made the disclosure before some 500 bankers and other conference participants. He said, however, that the bank denied any knowledge of the $13.2-billion account.

Solicitor General Ricardo Galvez, who attended the conference, said Bauer had admitted ''dealing with the Marcoses'' when the late dictator was still ''not projected in a bad light.''

It was not clear what time frame Bauer was referring to.

Pimentel Jr. said that Switzerland had enacted new laws exempting the alleged ill-gotten wealth of authoritarian leaders from bank secrecy laws.

''We can use these laws to try to recover money on that basis,'' he said.

But Galvez said the single admission of Bauer that UBS held Marcos deposits was not enough. ''We do not want this to be just a fishing expedition,'' he said.

He proposed that the PCGG invoke the agreement on International Mutual Assistance on Criminal Matters. The Philippines and Switzerland are among the signatories of the agreement.


'Forgotten' Battalion

Apart from Roberto Caoile, the alleged leader of the troop that dug up portions of the Marcos gold, the other expected witnesses are Dra. Lourdes Pascual and Teresita Gillego, the anesthesiologist and the private nurse, respectively, of the late strongman.

Caoile has formed a group called the Forgotten Claimants of Yamashita-World War II Treasures Versus Marcos Estate Incorporated, composed of soldiers from the reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion in the 1970s who allegedly dug up gold and gemstones for Marcos.

Their story was the subject of an INQUIRER special report which came out in January.

They were allegedly part of Task Force Restoration, purportedly organized by then Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian Ver.

Their main task was allegedly to conduct ''massive diggings and excavations'' under the cover of fighting insurgency in the countryside.


'Big Hawaiian'

There is also a possible fourth witness, Larry Mehau, Marcos' former Hawaiian security officer. Mehau, who now works for Zobel, will supposedly corroborate certain parts of Zobel's testimony.

Mehau, nicknamed ''Big Hawaiian,'' allegedly saw Marcos show a thick folder of gold certificates to the businessman.

Pimentel Jr. said Mehau was willing to come to the Philippines to testify. He said the bodyguard told him that he saw one gold certificate indicating $2 billion worth of deposits.

Pimentel Jr. said the testimony of industrialist Enrique Zobel was very important because it was the first time that someone who had first hand information and who had access to Marcos before he died had testified at the Senate hearings.

But Chavez said he would not rely on Zobel's testimony, and that the latter's claims needed corroboration.

''There is truth to Mr. Zobel's claim about the existence of Marcos gold certificates but their valuation at $35 billion was the result of estimation based on certain assumptions. I would not rely on the accuracy of this figure,'' Chavez said.


Sin and Erap

But Jaime Cardinal Sin, who has no personal knowledge of the fabled wealth, said yesterday he believed there must be a grain of truth to the existence of the hidden Marcos fortune.

''If there's talk (about the Marcos gold), then there must be something true. There won't be any talk if there is (no gold) in the first place,'' Sin said in an interview with radio station Radio Veritas.

The Archbishop of Manila expressed support for the Senate's efforts to get to the bottom of the story of the Marcos gold, although he added that he did not know just how much gold was involved.

And in a radio interview yesterday, asked if Marcos had confided in him regarding the alleged gold, President Estrada said that he was ''never that close'' to the late dictator.

''I was just the mayor of a small town. We were never that close to discuss those sort of things,'' he said.

---With reports from Stella O. Gonzales and Martin P. Marfil


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Search For Gold
The Inquirer (November 5, 1999)

SEN. Juan Ponce Enrile describes Enrique Zobel as ''crazy'' and calls his testimony before the Senate blue ribbon committee ''as fantastic as King Solomon's mine.'' But Enrile has an axe to grind against the now-ailing businessman friend of the late Ferdinand Marcos who revealed that the senator was among the four close associates who got $1 million each in gold bars from the dictator.

Secretary Ronaldo Zamora says Zobel's story is ''mind numbing and staggering.'' But then he once used almost the same words in dismissing the $13-billion account in a Swiss banks in the name of Irene Marcos Araneta, which is starting to look more and more credible with the revelations of statements made by some Swiss bankers.

Even former Solicitor General Frank Chavez, who has persisted in following the trail of the Marcos' ill-gotten wealth long after the Presidential Commission on Good Government seems to have given up on recovering the bulk of it, seems to have trouble accepting some parts of Zobel's tale.

He said Zobel's estimate of the Marcos gold hoard needs corroboration. ''I would not rely on the accuracy of the figure (Zobel quoted),'' Chavez said. Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, blue ribbon committee chair, however, said Zobel's testimony is very important because it was the first time the Senate heard firsthand information on the Marcos wealth from someone who had access to the former strongman before his death. Sen. Juan Flavier, a member of the committee, swears by Zobel, saying his credibility is ''of the highers order'' and his integrity ''has always been at the highest level.

"Notwithstanding Enrile's characterization of his two colleagues as junketeers, idiots (''gago'') and bastards (''tarantado''), Pimentel and Flavier are themselves two of the most respected, honest and credible lawmakers around.

So, what are the Filipino people to make of Zobel's fascinating revelations? Zobel has put the Marcos fortune at $100 billion--$35 billion in gold and the rest in foreign currency deposits and other assets. That is P4 trillion in depreciated pesos and it dwarfs even Imelda Marcos' claim in an interview with the INQUIRER that her family's fortune amounted to P600 billion. It's a truly mind-boggling amount even to the Filipinos who can count beyond what it costs a family to have three square meals a day.

The difficulty stems from the basic question of where Marcos got--or stole--all that wealth. If Marcos stole every single centavo that the government collected during his 20-year rule money and every dollar of the $27-billion foreign debt the country incurred, he could not have amassed even half of what Zobel says he had. This leads us to the favorite story of Imelda and the Marcos loyalists: Marcos made his fortune by discovering the treasures of Yamashita and later through very savvy gold trading in the international market.

Zobel, in fact, has a duplicate of a gold certificate worth $161 million belonging to Marcos. If indeed this was the source of his immense wealth, then Marcos was not only the richest man who ever walked this earth but also the smartest and the luckiest businessman the world has ever seen, a reputation no one has heard about. To the Marcos family and their friends, this neat explanation has the magical power of blotting out the infamy of the former dictator being called the world's biggest thief. Maybe Marcos found some gold and traded in gold, but that certainly doesn't make him the upright statesman and honest hero his family wants people to believe him to be. If he did both--and that is subject to proof--he more certainly dipped into the national treasury to make himself very much richer.


Search for Truth

ANOTHER puzzle that cries for a rational explanation is why, if Marcos had to so much, he hung on to it when his rule was being threatened. Using a small fraction of his reputed wealth to keep the economy afloat during the early and mid-'80s could have perhaps saved his regime.

Of course, it could be that he was too greedy to part with his ill-gotten money. But he also had an inordinate lust for power. INQUIRER columnist Adrian Cristobal recalls that Marcos used to say money was useless without power. Marcos apparently didn't act on this belief in his moment of greatest peril.

Why? Maybe, like Marcos used to say about rumors of his death, reports about the extent of his wealth are a bit exaggerated.

But that's no reason to give up the search for it. If only because most, if not all, of it belongs to the Filipino people, it is the government's obligation to return that money to them. And if in the process, the searchers find the answers to some very puzzling questions, that would be a rich bonus for history. The nation should be grateful that there are people like Pimentel and Flavier who keep digging to find the gold, the money and the truth.

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Imelda Says Gold For Dev't Of All Of RP
By Christine Herrera, Cathy C. Yamsuan and Donna S. Cueto
The Inquirer (November 5, 1999)

CONFIRMING the Marcoses' reported plan to use their alleged gold to fund development projects, Imelda Marcos yesterday promised ''my family will cooperate'' with the government to recover gold certificates allegedly seized by US customs authorities in 1986.

While she confirmed the claims of an INQUIRER source who said that ''more than $100 billion'' would be used to bankroll such projects, she said the projects were not only intended for Mindanao but ''also for the rest of the country.''

Asked yesterday about the alleged Marcos plan, Mr. Estrada said that the allegations were only speculation, but he added that if any money could be recovered, he would use it to develop Mindanao and the Visayas.

The source close to the Marcoses said Wednesday that the development plan had allegedly been approved by the President. ''The Filipino people, not the Americans, are the rightful beneficiaries of whatever the amount the US government would be returning to us,'' the former first lady told the INQUIRER yesterday in a phone interview.

''My family will cooperate with the Estrada administration's efforts to reclaim the assets,'' she said. ''What is important here is that the amount will be used to alleviate our people's poverty.''

She also confirmed that a ''small'' portion of the amount would go to the heirs of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

But two senators and a former Senate president yesterday cautioned ''sources'' close to the Marcoses against floating stories encouraging people to dream of national progress through the recovery of the late dictator's alleged gold hoard.


'I won't sue US'

Marcos denied a report in another paper which claimed she was planning to sue US government officials for withholding the Marcos assets.

In an official statement which she signed and issued before the INQUIRER interview, Marcos said: ''I have not issued any statements on any plan to sue officials of a foreign country or relating to the ongoing investigation of the Senate blue ribbon committee.''

Sought for clarification, Marcos said she did not want to cause any legal skirmishes that might hamper efforts to recover