GORDON ON ANOTHER MARCOS PRESIDENCY

ELEMENTS OF PLUNDER AS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE BY JUDGE ELIZA B. YU ...RESEARCHED MATERIAL

ELEMENTS OF PLUNDER AS A CRIMINAL 

OFFENSE

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 / JUDGE ELIZA B. YU, LLM, DCL

Having reached the foregoing Findings of Fact after a meticulous and laborious study of the voluminous testimonial and documentary evidence of both the prosecution and the defense on the four (4) sub-paragraphs of the Amended Information, the Court is now called upon to apply the Anti-Plunder Law to the facts of this case. The accused are charged with plunder as defined and penalized under Republic Act No. 7080, as amended, entitled “An Act Defining And Penalizing The Crime Of Plunder, As Amended” (July 12, 1991). Particularly, Section 2 of the said law provides as follows:

Section 2. Definition of the Crime of Plunder; Penalties.- Any public officer who, by himself or in connivance with members of his family, relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business associates, subordinates or other persons, amasses, accumulates or acquires ill gotten-wealth through a combination or series of overt criminal acts as described in Section 1 (d) hereof in the aggregate amount or total value of at least Fifty Million Pesos (P50,000,000.00) shall be guilty of the crime of plunder and shall be punished by reclusion perpetua to death. Any person who participated with the said public officer in the commission of an offense contributing to the crime of plunder shall likewise be punished for such offense. In the imposition of penalties, the degree of participation and the attendance of mitigating and extenuating circumstances, as provided by the Revised Penal Code, shall be considered by the court. The Court shall declare any and ill-gotten wealth and their interests and other incomes and assets including the properties and share of stocks derived from the deposit or investment thereof forfeited in the favor of the State. (As to the penalty, this section is amended by Republic Act No. 9346 prohibiting the imposition of the death penalty in the Philippines. RA 9346 was signed into law on June 24, 2006. In view of its provisions, the penalty for the crime of plunder is now reclusion perpetua pursuant to Section 2 (a) of RA 9346. In addition, the convicted person shall be eligible for parole under Act. No. 4103, otherwise known as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended.)

Section 1 (d) of the same statute cited in Section 2 above reads:

d) Ill-gotten wealth means any asset, property, business enterprise or material possession of any person within the purview of Section Two (2) hereof, acquired by him directly or in directly through dummies, nominees, agents, subordinates and/or business associates by any combination or series of the following means or similar schemes:

1) Through misappropriation, conversation, mis-use, or malversation of public funds or raids on the public treasury;

2) By receiving, directly or indirectly, any commission, gift, share, percentage, kickbacks or any other form of pecuniary benefit from any person and/ or entity in connection with any government contract or project or by reason of the office or position of the public officer concerned;

3) By the illegal or fraudulent conveyance or disposition of asset belonging to the National Government or any of its subdivision, agencies or instrumentalities or government-owned or –controlled corporations and their subsidiaries;

4) By obtaining, receiving or accepting directly or indirectly any shares of stock, equity or any other form of interest or participation including promises of future employment in any business enterprise or undertaking;

5) By establishing agricultural, industrial or commercial monopolies or other combinations and/or implementation of decrees and orders intended to benefit particular persons or special interests; or

6) By taking undue advantage of official position, authority, relationship, connection or influence to unjustly enrich himself or themselves at the expense and to the damage and prejudice of the Filipino people and the Republic of the Philippines.

RA No. 7080, as amended, enunciates a rule of evidence in Section 4 thereof which is quoted hereunder:

Section 4. Rule of Evidence. – For purpose of establishing the crime of plunder, it shall not be necessary to prove each and every criminal act done by the accused in furtherance of the scheme or conspiracy to amass, accumulate or acquire ill-gotten wealth, it being sufficient to establish beyond reasonable doubt a pattern of overt or criminal acts indicative of the overall unlawful scheme or conspiracy.

The case of Joseph Ejercito Estrada v. Sandiganbayan (G.R. No. 148560, promulgated November 19, 2001), which upheld this Court’s Resolution dated July 9, 2001 denying accused Former President Estrada’s Motion to Quash the information in this case, enumerates the elements of the crime of plunder, as follows:

(1) That the offender is a public officer who acts by himself or in connivance with members of his family, relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business associates, subordinates or other persons;

(2) That he amassed, accumulated or acquired ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of the following overt or criminal acts described in Section 1 (d) of R.A. No. 7080 as amended; and

(3) That the aggregate amount or total value of the ill-gotten wealth amassed, accumulated or acquired is at least P50,000,000.00.

The terms “Combination” and “Series” were likewise defined in the above-cited case as follows:

Thus when the Plunder Law speaks of “combination,” it is referring to at least two (2) acts falling under different categories of enumeration provided in Sec. 1, par. (d), e.g., raids on the public treasury in Sec.1, par. (d), subpar. (1), and fraudulent conveyance of assets belongings to the National Government under Sec.1, par. (d), subpar. (3).

On the other hand, to constitute a “series”, there must be two (2) or more overt or criminal acts falling under the same category of enumeration found in Sec. 1, par. (d), say, misappropriation , malversation and raids on the public treasury, all of which fall under Sec. 1, par. (d), subpar. (1). Verily, had the legislature intended a technical or distinctive meaning for “combination” and “series,” it would have taken greater pains in specifically providing for it in the law ( People v. Joseph Estrada et al., Criminal Case No. 26558, September 12, 2007).

WATCH: A documentary film showing how MARCOS plundered the Philippines into bankruptcy.

LEE ONES : DUTERTE'S EXPLOITS IS NOT BBM'S ACHIEVEMENT ...DO NOT BE MISLEAD...

LEE Magandang araw...Una Lee...mali na bigyang parangal natin si BBM sa resulta na achievement ni Pres Duterte...ito ay tinatawag sa wikang Ingles na malinaw na credit grabbing. Si Pres Duterte mismo ang nagpahiwatig sa mga Pilipino na bakit yan iboboto...dahil walang nagawa...weak leader....only child ...spoiled brat...cocaine addict...sumasakay sa eroplano para dun gumamit kaya di nya sya nahuhuli...daming bagahe...daming kaso...anong gagawin nyan sa Malakanyang ...presohan. Hindi lang yan idinagdag pa nya na kung iboboto nyo yan ...eh bahala kayo kung pagnakawan ulit kayo nyan kung iboboto pa nyo yan...Masakit po yun kay Pres Duterte na yun kanyang proyekto sa Davao ay mapunta kay BBM ang kredito at gamitin ito sa eleksyong gaganapin sa Mayo.  Pangalawa, ay ang ating bigyan ng mainam na pagsisiyasat ang paksang Komunismo o Komunista. Baliktanaw tayo sa nasulat na kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Simula natin noong pagkatapos ng second world war na kahit na nagwakas na ang digmaan ay patuloy pa ring nakipaglaban ang Hukbahap na imbes na ang mga Hapones ang kalaban ay naging pamahalaan na ng Pilipinas dahilan din sa kahirapan at di makatarungang pagtrato ng mga nagmamay ari ng lupaing sakahan laban sa mga magsasaka. Nag tuloy tuloy an kilusan ng mga Huk, 1946-1948 panunungkulan ni Pres Roxas, 1948- 1953  Pres Quirno at nagwakas sa panunungkulan ni Pres Magsaysay , 1953 1957. Nagpatuloy itong pananahimik ng mga Huk o armadong kilusan laban sa pamahalaan sa panunungkulan nina Pres Garcia at Diosdado Macapagal. Sa mga panahong iyon ang Pilipinas ay nakakasabay kundi man nangunguna sa kaunlaran kumpara sa mga bansa ng Southeast Asia. Ngunit, sana ay naging tuloy tuloy itong progresong ito kundi ibinalik uli ang paghihirap sa kanyang sa kanyang mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng intensyonal na pag gawa ng labis labis na utang para panustos sa ilang pagawaing bayan na ang malaking bahagi ng pagkakautang ay napatunayan na sa mga kasong isinampa laban kay Pres Marcos na lihim nang  naitatago para sa kanyang sarili sa mga banko sa ibang bansa kasama dito ang Amerika at Switzerland. Sinadya mismo ni Pres Marcos na pagnakawan ang pondo ng Pilipinas upang maubos ang pananalapi na pansagot sa mga pangunahing panganga ilangan ng mga tao...At tulad sa inaasahan ni Pres Marcos na  resulta ng malawakang kahirapan ay ang pagkagalit ng mga mamamayan na hahanap ang mga tao ng maaari nilang sandigan sa  nararanasan nilang kagipipitan. Bumalik sa kanila ang karanasan noong panahon ng mga Hapones na ang taga pagtanggol nila laban sa pang aapi ng mga Hapones. Dahil nga sa kahirapang kinsadlakan ng mga tao dahil muling nabuhay ang pangangailangan na grupo na magtatawid sa kanila sa kahirapan at injustice na nararanasan nila. Yang pangyayari na yan  ang sadyang ninais ni Pres Marcos na mangyari upang maka pag deklara si Pres Marcos ng Batas Militar....Sinabi niya na meron communist insurgency at kailangang iligtas ang Pilipinas sa Komunismo at yun ang sinabi nyang dahilan kaya siya ay nag deklara ng Martial Law. Sa pamamagitan nito legal niyang naisarado ang mga malayang pahayagan, radyo at telebisyon, nag karoon ng censorship ang media, naipakulong ang mga oposisyon sa kanyang pagbibintang na sila ay mga komunista kahit di naman totoo. Dahil sa nakakulong na ang kanyang mga kritiko, sarado ang mga media outlet na magbabalita ng mga aliwas was ng gobyerno...wala magbabalita ng mga pangyayari sa pamahalaan na sasabihing tahimik dahilan sa walang magbabalita ng kaguluhan. Walang nakahalata na habang Martial Law ay dyan sa pagkakataong yan nilimas ni Pres Marcos ang kaban ng bayan. Inagaw ni Pres Marcos ang pagmimina ng ginto  pagbibili nito at pag iimbak na nagdulot ng pagkawala ng $75 million worth of gold sa Philippine treasury.  Kasabay ng pag agaw niya ng mga pribadong kompanya at pagtatalaga nito sa kanyang mga cronies humawak ng industriya ng pag trotroso kay Enrile, ng niyog na napunta kay Danding Cojuanco, saging kay Floriendo, PNB kay Benedicto, Lucio Tan, Fortune Tobacco Corp, Velasco , Net worth 5.4 billion dollars to 50 million dollars in 1986, at marami pang iba...Nagawa nilang umutang para sa kanikanilang negosyo na nakagarantiya ay ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas na hindi nila binayaran at hanggang ngayon ay samasama nating binabayaran na silang mga alipores lang ang nakinabang. Yan po ang dahilan ng ating kahirapan. At itoy tuloy tuloy pang naganap sa mga sumunod na administrasyon na hindi rin lubusang napawi ng EDSA REVOLT nang mga sumunod na pangulo na nag balatkayong dilawan, mula kay Pres Ramos hangggang kay Pnoy. Kanya kanyang administrasyon kanya kanyang iskandalo at kasama rin dito ang panunungkulan ng Pamilya Marcos na tatlong miyembro nila pati  Enrile at Honassan ERAP, GLORIA  ay kasama rin sa pamahalaang  nagpahirap at isinusuka na natin. Balikan natin ang Martial Law ni Marcos hayag na dahilan para raw labanan ang NPA. Ang lihim na dahilan ni Marcos ang pagnakawan ang kaban ng bayan... Nalutas baga ng Martial Law ang problema sa NPA. HINDI. Nakulimbat baga ang ang pondo ng bayan. Sakto. Martial Law Regime Golden Years ... FALSE ......DITO NAGANAP YUNG PAGNANAKAW NG GINTONG YAMAN NG PILIPINAS ... Marcos-Era Gold Reported Missing : Philippines Tracing Flow of Millions in Bullion, Cash and Illegal Profits

PRECURSORS TO FEBRUARY 25, 1986 EDSA REVOLUTION

Top Military Aides Mutiny Against Marcos ARTICLE FROM WASHINGTON POST 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 END OF REPORT source document : https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/02/23/top-military-aides-mutiny-against-marcos/6b8e25cf-d055-45cf-806c-5e2bb176cfda/

NAGKAONSEHAN SA BAYARAN sa RALLY NI JUNIOR SA LAGUNA

VeeveeEm, ibigay mo na daw bayad! Uuwi pa sila! 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/YJS5BLonJq — PinoyAkoBlog (@PinoyAkoBlog) April 22, 2022

Claim Number 55-06c6-44x VANDALISM BY TITOUAH PLUMBING REPAIR COST REPORT 1 DATED 18 APRIL 2022 10:40AM

from: antonio jr. Buensuceso <antoniobuensuceso@gmail.com> to: Gordon C Liu <gordon.c.liu.gprx@statefarm.com> cc: rosalina buensuceso <rosebuensuceso@gmail.com>, Noemi Buensuceso <mimikyut@yahoo.com>, Aaron Buensuceso <aaronbuensuceso@gmail.com>, veronica buensuceso <vcbuensuceso@gmail.com>, "miriambuens@gmail.com" <miriambuens@gmail.com>, Mosses <buensucesom@gmail.com> date: Apr 18, 2022, 10:40 AM subject: Claim Number 55-06c6-44x VANDALISM BY TITOUAH PLUMBING REPAIR COST REPORT 1 DATED 18 APRIL 2022 mailed-by: gmail.com APRIL 18, 2022 GORDON LIU CLAIMS SPECIALIST STATE FARM HOME INSURANCE  RE: Claim Number 55-06C6-44X        Policy Number 77-C3-B499-7 Date of Loss :  April 26, 2020 WOULD YOU COME TOGETHER WITH FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY  AND ALL EXPRESS  PLUMBING TO DISCUSS THE $8155.20 PLUMBING COST, EXCLUDING MASONRY,  REPAIR DUE TO VANDALISM  SEE BELOW  "NOTA BENE" NOTICE Dear Mr. Liu, SINCE YOU DID NOT RESPOND TO TEMPORARY RESTORATION REPORT 1,  WITH AN INVITATION FOR YOU TO COME TOGETHER WITH FIRST AMERICAN HOME INSURANCE JOSE SY MEDINA  AND JOHN TITOUAH TO COME FOR AN INSPECTION, WHERE I WAITED FOR THE THREE (3) OF YOU FOR ONE (1) WHOLE MONTH BUT IN VAIN, MANIFESTING DUAL DELIBERATE WILLFUL NEGLECT TO THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATE SUPERVENING EVENTS PERTAINING TO CLAIMS FILED IN THE OFFICES OF BOTH OF YOU, THEREBY STATE FARM HOME INSURANCE AND FIRST AMERICAN HOME WARRANTY ENGAGE IN CONDUCTS THAT CONSTITUTE AN UNFAIR SETTLEMENT PRACTICE. SINCE YOU DID NOT RESPOND  OR EVEN AT LEAST ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIVING THIS EMAIL TITLED "TEMPORARY RESTORATION REPORT 1", SO FOR THE PURPOSE TO HAVE OUR NEGOTIATIONS CLEAR AND ORDERLY I AM ENTERING YOUR RESPONSE TO IT AS IN TEMPLATE 4 : "I DO NOT WANT TO RESPOND AND I AM WAIVING MY RIGHT AGAINST SELF INCRIMINATION." YOUR RESPONSE AS I ENTERED: "I DO NOT WANT TO RESPOND TO EMAIL TITLED "TEMPORARY RESTORATION REPORT 1"  AND I AM WAIVING MY RIGHT AGAINST SELF INCRIMINATION." AS YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY COMMENT OR OBJECTION TO YOUR RESPONSE TO EMAIL TITLED "TEMPORARY RESTORATION REPORT 1"  AS I RECORDED AND EXPECTED IT TO BE WRITTEN AND SENT TO THE SENDER ANTONIO BUENSUCESO SHOWING VALID EXPLANATION WHY YOU ARE OBJECTING TO IT WITHIN FIFTEEN (15) DAYS AFTER RECEIPT OF THIS EMAIL SINCE MARCH 15, 2022; HENCE, YOU SHALL BE BARRED FROM WRITING OR FILING OBJECTION TO IT LATER AS IT IS AN ACT OF YOUR OWN UNCONDITIONAL AND IRREVOCABLE VOLITION AND UNDERSTANDING. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN AND PROVEN A COUPLE OF TIMES THAT STATE FARM HOME INSURANCE/GUENIOT HAD BROKEN SILENCE WHEN THINKING OF IN POSSESSION OF A VALID ARGUMENT AND REMAIN SILENT WHEN DO NOT HAVE ANY AS IN EMAILS :  1.STATE FARM EVIDENCE OF BREAKING SILENCE WHEN HAVING A VALID ARGUMENT DATED 13NOV20 4:00PM MR. GUENIOT, YOU MIGHT HAVE FALLEN TO A TRAP. YOU DO NOT KEEP SILENT IF YOU HAVE A VALID ARGUMENT. AND CONVERSELY, YOU KEEP SILENT WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY. 2. Claim Number 55-06c6-44x VANDALISM BY TITOUAH DATED 14NOV20 12:27PM  PLEASE EXPLAIN  "John Titouah excavating a portion of the concrete to search for the leak in a supply line to "fix it" is not an accident, and is not vandalism to personal property.....", MR. LIU, BEING SILENT HAD NO MATCH TO THE SPECIALLY CRAFTED INQUIRIES FOR YOU DESIGNED APPLYING LOGIC AND EMPIRICAL REASONING WHICH WITH ANSWERS OR NO ANSWERS FROM YOU WOULD ELICIT TRUTH BEHIND THE CONTROVERSY. YOU WOULD PROBABLY HAD NOTICED THAT AFTER EACH INQUIRY THE GEM FROM THE MOUND OF MUD IS LIKE BEING CLEANED AND POLISHED EACH DAY. THE TIME WOULD COME THAT YOU CAN NO LONGER LOOK AT IT FOR IT SHINES LIKE THE SUN WITH BRILLIANCE BRIGHTER THAN ANY DAY YOU HAD SEEN. AS I HAVE ESTABLISHED YOUR MUTUAL PARTNERSHIP WITH FIRST AMERICAN AND DEMANDED $1,000,00 COLLECTIVE SETTLEMENT OF CIVIL LIABILITY FROM BOTH OF YOU ON MAY 27, 2021, I RECEIVED VIA FED EX A SETTLEMENT AMOUNT OF $5,130.31 FROM FIRST AMERICAN. SINCE YOU ARE IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION WITH EACH OTHER AND IT FOLLOWS THAT $5,130.31 IS BORN OUT OF YOUR COMMON UNDERSTANDING AND CONSENT. HAVING THAT SAID MAY I MOST RESPECTFULLY PROCEED WITH  PLUMBING REPAIR COST REPORT  1:  WE HAVE COMPLETED THE PLUMBING REPAIR, EXCLUDING MASONRY, OF THE DAMAGED PLUMBING, CAUSED BY VANDALISM BY YOUR PLUMBING CONTRACTOR WITNESS JOHN TITOUAH,   HOT AND COLD WATER PIPES ENCASED IN THE SLAB VIA PIPE REROUTING WITH COSTS EXHIBITED IN INVOICES 16665 AND 19646,  $1068.22 AND 7086.98 RESPECTIVELY, TOTAL OF $8155.20 AS SHOWN BY THE TWO (2) IMAGES BELOW : PLEASE DISCUSS TOGETHER WITH MR. MEDINA AND MR. TITOUAH TO SEE FOR YOURSELVES THE AMOUNT OF PLUMBING REPAIR COST  CAUSED BY THE MAY 2020 SLAB EXCAVATION VANDALISM INCIDENT COMMITTED BY YOUR PLUMBER TITOUAH. PLEASE SEND ME AN UPDATE OF YOUR TRIUMVIRATE'S DISCUSSION WITH JOSE SY MEDINA AND JOHN TITOUAH AS THE THREE OF YOU HAVE ADMITTEDLY CONSTANTLY BEEN DOING SINCE APRIL 2020. In my humble opinion consider showing manifestations of your intentions to withdraw from this conspiracy when you still have time. As of today, APRIL 18, 2022 you have not shown me any manifestations yet. It is to our common understanding and it is understood by both of us, the statute of limitations on "the year suit against us" shall be tolled as of the date of this email, APRIL 18, 2022 based on the continuing violation doctrine.  Any objection to my understanding about this issue needs no more deliberation BY VIRTUE OF THE ESTOPPEL PRINCIPLE as this fact have been conformed with and admitted without objection by you since: Claim Number 55-06c6-44x INQUIRY 1 DATED 13APR21 5:09PM NOTA BENE WE WOULD WANT TO NEGOTIATE THIS DISPUTE WITH STATE FARM IN GOOD FAITH UNTIL ALL  ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES AVAILABLE HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED INCLUDING ALL APPLICABLE ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTIONS THE MOST CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE AND INTELLIGENT MAN CAN THINK OF, DISCOVER AND EXECUTE. Thank you very much. Yours faithfully, Antonio L. Buensuceso Jr.

MARCOS-ERA GOLD REPORTED MISSING, SOURCE LA TIMES MARCH 16, 1986

Marcos-Era Gold Reported Missing : Philippines Tracing Flow of Millions in Bullion, Cash and Illegal Profits BY MARK FINEMAN MARCH 16, 1986 12 AM PT TIMES STAFF WRITER MANILA —  At least seven tons of gold worth more than $75 million reportedly disappeared from the inventories of the Philippine national treasury in the seven years after President Ferdinand E. Marcos took direct control of the processing and distribution of gold mined in the Philippines. During those same years, Marcos’ family and friends are believed to have amassed tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits from unauthorized logging operations that have left much of the country’s jungle and forest a barren wasteland. Also, Marcos and his friends are believed to have siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from the treasury, either through the creation of private corporations and quasi-governmental institutions that never repaid government loans or by simply removing money at will from discretionary funds Marcos created in several of his ministries. Poring Over Records All this has been disclosed by ministers and auditors of the new government of President Corazon Aquino in interviews with The Times. In the 2 1/2 weeks since the Aquino government came to power, these people have been poring over the books and records Marcos and his family left behind when they fled to the United States on Feb. 25. The ministry audits, which are being carried out in addition to inventories the new government is preparing on the Marcos family holdings here and abroad, are nowhere near complete. But a pattern is emerging that shows not only what Marcos owns but how he came to own it--how one man and his family amassed fortunes that total between $5 billion and $10 billion, according to officials in the new government. Mansions, Office Towers Every day since Marcos surrendered a job that officially paid him about $5,000 a year, the Philippine people have been hit with new reports of the deposed president’s wealth--mansions and office towers in New York, California, New Jersey and Texas; scores of crates containing gold and cash on board the plane that carried the Marcos party to Hawaii; dozens of boxes filled with gold coins, priceless jewelry and art objects removed from the presidential palace since Marcos’ flight; wardrobes so extensive that, in just one closet of Imelda Marcos’ bedroom, government auditors found 500 identical, imported black brassieres. ‘Raped, Robbed’ Nation The Aquino government’s investigation into how the Marcoses acquired so much wealth has been much quieter. But, according to many analysts here, it says a great deal about the way Marcos led a country of 54 million people whose per capita income is $625 a year. Ernesto Maceda, who served in the Cabinet under Marcos and is minister of natural resources in the Aquino government, said the other day of the Marcos era: “This was a government that raped its own country of its rich resources and directly robbed the nation’s treasury to enrich just one man and his family and friends. “From gold and timber to coconuts and sugar, they kept creating new ways and new conduits to take things out of the country for themselves, and they very nearly mortgaged the future of the country in the process.” According to independent Filipino and Western analysts in Manila, at the outset of his two decades in power, Marcos set up structures of administration and operation that made possible the accumulation of vast private wealth. System ‘Well Oiled’ “The entire economic structure here was set up not to stimulate overall growth for the nation, but to produce rents that people could scrape off the top,” said a senior Western diplomat who had intimate knowledge of Marcos and his government. “It was a system that was very much in place on every level, and it was a system that was very well oiled.” It is alleged, and widely believed, that the system involved routine official bribery. Filipino and foreign businessmen have said publicly that corporations had to pay huge cash commissions to Marcos and his ministers in order to do business in the Philippines. But the corruption went far beyond that, and it was all grounded in Marcos’ virtually unbridled political power. He personally appointed every minister and judge; he wrote and rewrote the constitution; and, until his last few days here, he controlled the armed forces. Even Marcos’ harshest critics concede that in his first eight years as president, he was honest. It was not until he declared martial law in 1972 that he consolidated his power, dissolving Parliament, setting up military courts and assuming the power to rule by decree, without checks or balances. Although Marcos lifted martial law in 1981, he retained most of the authoritarian powers he had held under it. And by then he had filled every position of power outside the presidency with a close ally. Rich in Gold According to Maceda and other members of the new Cabinet, the gold industry typifies the way Marcos and his associates enriched themselves. The Philippines has long been considered a potentially major gold producer, with proven reserves of 80 million tons of gold ore and an estimated 120 million more tons in probable and exploratory reserves. For many years, private mining companies and individual operators sold their gold ore to private export firms or to the government. The ore was sent to England and the United States, where it was refined and converted into bullion that helped support the Philippine currency. Initially, “the whole system was in private hands,” Maceda said. “There was no easy way Marcos could get at it.” But in 1978, under martial law, Marcos ordered the entire system placed in the hands of the government. By decree, Marcos ruled that all gold mined in the Philippines had to be sold to the Central Bank, which built a refinery to process it. Marcos said the change was meant to bolster the Philippine economy by preventing the transfer of gold to foreign firms and by building up the Philippines’ foreign exchange. Also, he said, it saved the treasury the expense of refining abroad. “In reality,” Maceda said, “what Marcos did was position himself to steal as much as he wanted without anyone knowing.” Gold Unaccounted For According to hundreds of pages of reports submitted to the Bureau of Mines by private mining firms and the Central Bank, the government refined a total of 124,234 pounds of gold mined between April 17, 1978, when the new system took effect, and the end of 1984, the last year for which statistics are available. But the Central Bank, in annual reports covering the same period, has accounted for only 110,319 pounds of the gold--13,915 pounds less than it bought. “Those two figures should be the same,” Juanito Fernandez, director of the Bureau of Mines, said. “That big a difference can only mean one thing--the gold has somehow been diverted from the treasury.” And according to Maceda, who last week started an investigation to find the missing gold, “only Marcos and his cronies could have had access to it. I suppose the bulk of it is already . . . in Switzerland.” The charge is supported by some indications that Marcos may have taken large quantities of gold out of the country. There have been reports from Hawaii that gold bars were among the personal goods the U.S. Air Force moved out of Manila for the Marcoses two weeks ago, although U.S. Customs officials have declined to comment. Auditors who inventoried every item the Marcoses left behind in the palace filled 51 large boxes with Philippine commemorative gold coins, which are minted for the Central Bank from gold mined in the country under a contract with British and American government mints. Can’t Explain Discrepancy Officials at the Central Bank’s gold refinery could not explain the discrepancy between the two figures last week. Supt. Cesar Lomotan said there has never been a theft from the refinery or from the armored trucks and commercial airliners that transport the gold to official buyers and banks. Lomotan, who has supervised the refinery since 1981, said he is certain that he can account for all the gold that has been bought and refined. When he was asked how Marcos could have acquired the gold found in his possession, Lomotan suggested that he may have bought it illegally outside the Central Bank system. In a separate report last week, the Philippine Chamber of Mines, a private association that includes gold mining corporations, said an additional $220 million in gold bullion had been sold on the black market outside the Central Bank system since 1978, and Maceda said he was investigating whether Marcos obtained any of that gold as well. Maceda said the gold discrepancy is just one of several indications that Marcos and those close to him exploited the country’s natural resources for personal gain. Auditors have documented at least $50 million in profits made by Marcos’ friends and relatives in illegal logging operations, Maceda said. He said this has reduced the virgin forest area to 2 million hectares, about 5 million acres, down from more than 30 million acres 20 years ago. In a single raid last week at a logging firm owned by Marcos’ brother-in-law, Marcelino Barba, authorities found more than $100,000 worth of illegally cut timber that had been felled in the previous few weeks. Favoritism to Cronies According to Maceda, Marcos also showed favoritism in awarding the 170 highly coveted legal timber concessions in the country. He said auditors have traced the great majority of them to the families of Marcos and his senior Cabinet ministers. Other ministers in the new government said the large-scale diversion of government assets under Marcos went far beyond physical resources. Some of it, Budget Minister Alberto Romulo said in an interview, was simply “the blatant theft of cold, hard cash.” Romulo said last week at Aquino’s first Cabinet meeting that Marcos, in his last two months in power, “raided” the government treasury of hundreds of millions of dollars to pay off local officials and voters for their part in the Feb. 7 presidential election campaign. He said this left the new government with a budget deficit of $250 million for the first quarter of 1986. “But the main way they got the money,” Romulo said, “was through various financial institutions and corporations they created. They siphoned the money off from the budget--first into these corporations, and then into their own pockets.” Assets Were Transferred After receiving large quantities of government equity contributions, advances and subsidies, Romulo said, the corporations they created would gradually transfer the assets to personal accounts and ultimately declare the corporations bankrupt, leaving the government holding a corporate shell and hundreds of millions of dollars in bad loans. Romulo said it will be several weeks before his and other ministries complete their audits and publish the names of the corporations and principals involved. Several reports have been published in the last several years on large banks, transportation companies and deluxe hotels owned and managed by Marcos’ family and friends that were given millions of dollars in government subsidies before they gradually were drained of their assets, forced into bankruptcy and turned back to the government. Raul Daza, a member of a government commission investigating the extent and origins of Marcos’ wealth, described the general scheme to reporters last week. But he said, “We don’t have anything specific (to make public) right now.” Delegation in U.S. The commission, which sent a delegation to the United States last week to lay the groundwork for recovering some of Marcos’ assets, has amassed thousands of pages of documents that the commission’s chairman, Jovito R. Salonga, says will detail many specific examples of the schemes. But despite this drain on the country’s resources, which economists blame in large part for the Philippines’ $25-billion national debt, most of Aquino’s ministers are optimistic about the future. “I don’t think Marcos and his cronies mortgaged it entirely,” Budget Minister Romulo said. “We are still very rich in resources, especially in human resources, and this new government is in a good position to progress right now. “We might have to tighten our belts for the next few months, but the trust and the confidence of the people is there. That alone is a great reservoir of hope.”