Ramos plans Marcos wealth

Ramos plans Marcos wealth

MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos will make an official visit to Switzerland this month to discuss assets salted away in Swiss banks by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, a senior aide said yesterday.

The Jan. 28 to Feb. 3 trip will involve negotiations on the transfer of Marcos' "ill-gotten wealth" to the Philippine government, said Apolinario Lozada, presidential adviser on foreign affairs.

Earlier, the presidential palace said Ramos was also scheduled to address an annual conference of the World Economic Forum there.

Last month, the Swiss Supreme Court ordered a Swiss bank to return to the Philippines about one-fifth of the US$500 million in assets salted away by Marcos during his tenure.

The ruling has been widely seen as opening the door to the returning of the entire sum.