Manila: The Philippine government valued the jewellery seized from the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at P1 billion (Dh77 million).
“Following the weeklong appraisal in November 2015 of the massive ill-gotten jewellery collection seized from the Marcoses and stored in a vault at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP or Central Bank of the Philippines] for almost three decades, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) announced that the value of all three collections now amounts to a conservative estimate of at least P1 billion,” PCGG Chair Richard Amurao announced.
The valuation, according to Amurao, was conducted with the help of UK auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Amurao also said that the value of the seized collection had also increased over the years.
“Reports submitted by Christie’s and Sotheby’s, which show that the total estimated value of the thousands of pieces has significantly increased, some items increasing in value ten folds from previous appraisals,” the PCGG chief said, adding that further gemological testing is necessary for a more accurate estimate.
Jewellery was among the items left by the family of the strongman when they fled the Philippines in haste in February 1986 amid a mass uprising.
The revolt toppled the dictator and forced him and his family to flee the country for Hawaii after the US government offered him sanctuary.
According to PCGG, the Marcos jewellery collection is composed of three ranges. “The Malacanang collection was abandoned when the Marcoses fled the Palace and is presently under the custody of the Office of the President; the Hawaii collection, on the other hand, was seized by the US Bureau of Customs upon the Marcoses’ arrival in Hawaii in 1986, [and is] under the PCGG’s custody; and the Roumeliotes collection … was confiscated by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) at what used to be Manila International Airport,” the commission said.
The Roumeliotes collection was so named to distinguish it from the other jewellery items identified to belong to the Marcoses.
It was named after Demetriou Roumeliotes, a Greek who was caught attempting to spirit the items out of the country days after the expulsion of Marcos, through the then Manila International Airport, which has since been renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport).
The PCGG is yet to announce when the items, which include a rare 25-carat pink diamond, would be auctioned off.
Years after Marcos was ousted, his wife, Imelda, and the late dictator returned to the Philippines.
Ferdinand Marcos’s namesake, Ferdinand junior, is running for vice-president in the May 2016 elections.
