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Bongbong to testify vs Lucio Tan


Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr will testify Wednesday afternoon at the Sandiganbayan to bolster his family’s claim that it owns 60 percent of the nine companies controlled by business tycoon Lucio Tan. The Presidential Commission on Good Government said its lawyers will treat Marcos, the son of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, as a "hostile witness" as he is expected to present testimony adverse to the government’s efforts to recover the same portion of Tan’s assets covered by Civil Case no. 0005. PCGG Commissioner Nicasio Conti said Marcos will be asked to provide proof in support of his mother’s earlier assertion that Tan was only a nominee who had been tasked to handle the said assets in behalf of the interest of the Marcoses. The PCGG is seeking forfeiture of Tan’s assets on the ground that they were part of the ill-gotten wealth amassed by the Marcos family. The Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division on Friday subpoenaed Rep. Marcos requiring him to appear at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Bongbong is expected to explain his family’s allegation that it is the real beneficial owner of several Tan firms. These firms are Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery, Inc., Allied Banking Corp., Foremost Farms, Himmel Industries, Inc., Grandspan Development Corp., Silangan Holdings, Inc., Dominium Realty and Construction Corp and Shareholdings, Inc. He was likewise ordered to bring 24 pieces of documents that government lawyers said would constitute proof that Tan was a mere Marcos dummy. These documents will show the breakdown of stock ownership in the nine firms and a history of Shareholdings Inc. which was reportedly delivered by Tan personally to the late President Marcos. Even as Rep. Marcos is trying to assert his family’s claim, government lawyers are banking on the pronouncement of the Supreme Court that the Marcos family’s income is too small and ‘grossly disproportionate’ to the value of assets they are claiming to have legitimately acquired during their years in power. Marcos and his mother were named co-administrators of the estate of his father who died in late 1989. Tan, according to the Forbes Magazine, is the second richest Filipino with personal assets estimated at over $2.3 billion. Over at the Senate, Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr dared the PCGG to stop the Marcoses from reclaiming assets believed to be ill-gotten. Pimentel said the Senate, through an appropriate committee, should investigate the basis of the claim of the Marcoses that they are the legitimate owners of all these assets and why these were not declared and forfeited in favor of the government. Among the assets which have reportedly been “returned" to the Marcoses are shares of stock or their money equivalent in the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company; mansions and rest houses such as those located in Laoag, Ilocos Norte and another in Canlubang, Laguna; and even bank deposits. Aside from their claim over Tan companies, the Marcoses are also claiming ownership of a block of shares in the GMA-Network Inc. held by former Rizal Congressman Gualberto Duavit, Jr., as well as a big track of prime lands in Barrio Ugong, Pasig City formerly under the name of Jose Campos. Both Ilocos Norte Congressman Ferdinand “Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. and former Congresswoman Imee Marcos said they are in possession of documents that will prove their family’s ownership of part of the Lucio Tan business empire and the GMA-7 Network. “These matters should really be scrutinized carefully by the proper committee of the Senate so that the right of the people over these shares of these entities can be protected," Pimentel said. The minority leader said the aggressiveness by which the Marcoses are claiming ownership of billions of pesos worth of assets, many of which were previously sequestered by the government, merely lends credence to speculation about a secret compromise deal that may have been struck between the Marcoses and the Arroyo government.- GMANews.TV

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