PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has formally instructed the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to commence the public auction of P704.8 million worth of jewelry seized from former first lady Imelda Marcos, a Palace official confirmed Tuesday, June 4, 2019.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the President sent a letter to the PCGG, informing the commission that it can now dispose of the so-called Hawaii Collection, one of the three jewelry troves of the widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, through a public auction.
"OP [Office of the President] has officially informed PCGG that it interposes no objections to the proposed activities relative to the disposal of the Marcos Jewelry Collections, subject to compliance with existing laws, rules and regulations," Medialdea said in a text message.
The Hawaii Collection is composed of 300 pieces of jewelry and other luxury items.
The said jewelry collection was confiscated in Hawaii, where the Marcos family fled to at the height of the Edsa People Power Revolution in February 1986.
In the 2018 annual audit report, the Commission on Audit found that a total of P1.081 billion of recovered ill-gotten assets of the Marcos family remain unsold, inlcuding the Hawaii collection which is kept in a vault at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
In a press conference with Palace reporters, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the PCGG should now heed the Presdent's directive to begin the public auction of Marcos jewelry.
"The PCGG should now undertake the process of auctioning (off) the Marcos jewelry," the Palace official said. (SunStar Philippines)