The Supreme Court (SC) declared that the Marcos family’s claim to a 57-hectare property in Paoay, Ilocos Norte was ill-gotten, and martial law survivors are rejoicing.

The Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA) said it welcomes the SC decision, adding it is significant because it came as another Marcos, the late dictator’s namesake no less, is president.

“[T]his would be, as far as we know, the first ruling on Marcos’ illegal wealth under the presidency of the son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has repeatedly denied that his family amassed millions worth of wealth during the Marcos Sr. dictatorship,” CARMMA said in the statement today, September 5.

In a decision promulgated on November 14 last year but only made public yesterday, the high court said the heirs of the dictator has no ownership rights over the property and it should be considered part of the dynasty’s ill-gotten wealth.

The high court’s decision upheld the April 21, 2014 Sandiganbayan decision voiding the 25-year lease contract signed in December 1978 between Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) for being “unconstitutional.”

As main petitioner in behalf of the dictator’s heirs, then senator Ferdinand Jr. claimed the entire property was their family’s, telling anti-graft court Sandiganbayan in 2014 that it was not under sequestration.

“(T)his action is not one for recovery of ill-gotten wealth, coupled with the fact that the parcels of land are not under sequestration, this Honorable Court must dismiss for lack of jurisdiction,” Marcos through his lawyers argued.

The Sandiganbayan however ruled that since the property is a national park, the family could not own “inalienable public domain.”

Billed by the Marcos dictatorship as the so-called Malacañang of the North, the mansion and the sprawling grounds served as the family’s residence when they visited the patriarch’s home province.

The mansion overlooking Paoay Lake was built by the PTA in 1977 for Marcos’s 60th birthday.

With the return of the Marcoses in power from their exile in the United States, then Ilocos Norte governor (now senator) Imee Marcos refurbished the property in 2010 to serve as one of the province’s tourist attractions.

CARMMA said the decision is one more proof of how the Marcoses used their power to expand their wealth.

“As the decision also comes out just a few weeks before we commemorate the declaration of martial law by the Marcos regime on September 21, 1972 – an event that enabled the Marcoses to stay in power for 14 years, and plunder the nation’s wealth – we are reminded that the fight for justice and accountability, and the struggle against historical distortion and impunity is far from over,” the martial law survivors said.

CARMMA said it hopes that more Marcos ill-gotten wealth be recovered, and more “lies and disinformation” on the so-called Marcos’ golden years are debunked. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)