Marcos assets to plug RP deficit

Marcos assets to plug RP deficit

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines government said on Thursday it would auction off assets seized from the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to finance a gaping fiscal deficit.

The sale of the assets -- including stocks, properties and a jewelry set owned by former first lady Imelda Marcos -- is expected to generate some 18 billion pesos ($360 million), said Ruben Carranza, head of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

Imelda Marcos' jewelry, kept by the justice department's National Bureau of Investigation, will be auctioned off in August or September either at Christie's in New York or Sotheby's in London, he said.