President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has countered longstanding characterizations of his family’s assets as illegally acquired, citing favorable court decisions over the years as proof of their legitimacy.
Speaking at a presidential luncheon organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Marcos asserted that their legal victories in various civil proceedings demonstrate that the family’s assets were lawfully obtained.
“The reason we won those civil cases is because they were proven to be not ill-gotten wealth. To characterize that as ill-gotten wealth, immediately I have to respond and to say – kaya nga kami nanalo dahil napatunayan namin na hindi ito ill-gotten wealth,” Marcos said.
Addressing questions regarding his role as co-executor of the estate of his father, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the President acknowledged delegating legal affairs to focus entirely on state administration. Marcos Sr.’s two-decade rule was marked by allegations of systemic corruption and cronyism.
“When it comes to prioritization for the things that I spend time with and I focus on, this is a family matter. The matters of state and governance are a thousand times more important than any family matter – in fact, a 113 million times more important than any family matter,” the President said.
Marcos noted that he relies on legal counsel to handle ongoing litigation concerning the family estate.
“I hear about it in passing, but I don’t really sit in on meetings and I don’t really concern myself with that so much. I believe that I have some very good legal advisors, and I leave them up to them. First of all, I’m not a lawyer, so that legal advice is not something that I fully understand,” he added.
The family’s legal liabilities remain a point of discussion, following a 1997 Supreme Court ruling ordering the Marcos estate to pay ₱23 billion in tax obligations, an amount that has since expanded to over ₱203 billion due to penalties and accrued interest.