MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte said the alleged ill-gotten wealth amassed by the Marcos family during then president Ferdinand E. Marcos’ 20-year reign has not been proven to this day.

“Until now, you have not proven anything except to sequester and sell. Hindi mo nga sigurado kung talagang kay Marcos ba ‘yan?” Duterte said in his speech at the general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines in Manila.

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(It cannot even be confirmed if such were really owned by the Marcoses.)

The Marcos family has allegedly amassed ill-gotten wealth believed to be worth from US$5 billion to US$10 billion through dummies and cronies.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), formed in 1986 primarily to recover the supposed ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, has reported that it had recovered P170.45 billion from 1986 to December 2015.

The former president fled to Hawaii in 1986 after he was ousted through the “People Power” revolution.

Duterte is a known political ally of the Marcoses.

In the same speech, Duterte, who has described the late former president as “the best president ever,” again defended his decision to allow the interment of Marcos’ remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“The law says, sino ang pwedeng ilibing sa Libingan ng mga Bayani? Ang sabi ng batas, sundalo o kaya presidente. That’s the law,” he said.

(The law states that soldiers and presidents can be buried there.) / gsg

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