By YAS OCAMPO
DAVAO CITY – President Duterte said that he would defer to the Department of Finance on the decision of the Marcos family to return a portion of wealth amassed during the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
According to Duterte, his “acceptance” of the rationale of the Marcos family, through Gov. Imee Marcos, does not mean a final decision on the status of the ill-gotten wealth.
Duterte said that the next move would be up to Congress, or at least the Central Bank.
“It has to be the law. And the law must come from Congress, not from me. I cannot say with finality na ito, ito ang nangyari. Because there are so many stages yan,” Duterte said.
Duterte said that Congress must authorize the government, through a legislative measure, whether to accept the offer of the Marcos family to return a portion of their wealth to the government.
“Congress must authorize because that is money to be recovered by the Philippines,” Duterte said.
Duterte said that the Marcos family said that they wanted “closure” from the issues surrounding their wealth.
However, Duterte was categorical in saying that there was no admission of sorts regarding the wealth.
“She’s not ready to announce na ninakaw yang perang yan,” Duterte said.
But he said that the family was willing to discuss the wealth that was suspected to be ill-gotten.
“That, I accepted. But when the proceeding should begin, we should start with Congress. It’s the people who would decide it, through the representatives. Because they represent the people because we should be deciding our own fate. But since not all the people can be accommodated in one building, you send a representative,” Duterte said.