RP officials counting on Marcos' money

RP officials counting on Marcos' money

MANILA (Agencies): Philippine officials are pinning their hopes of boosting the budget and the embattled peso on income linked to millions of ill-gotten dollars of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, sources here said yesterday.

The expected transfer of some US$420 million in Swiss bank deposits will make up an "extraordinary income of the national government," sources from the Finance Department said.

Meanwhile, a prominent Senator said yesterday the government's decision to allow for negotiations on the possible sale of sequestered shares of Marcos cronies in blue-chip firm San Miguel Corp, could result in a "massive dollar infusion."

"This deal is so big that it could cause a sudden appreciation of the peso against the dollar and burn speculators in the process," Ernesto Herrera said.

A statement from his office said plans by a Hong Kong firm "to buy 35 percent of San Miguel Corp is expected to boost the country's dwindling foreign exchange reserves by $1.8 billion."

The national coffers are feeling the crunch from the economic crisis and a plunging currency amid a downturn sweeping Asia.

It has led the government to call for some austerity measures to weather the storm and trim growth targets.

The government welcomed a Swiss court ruling last week that called for the transfer of more than $500 million in Marcos money back to the Philippines.

It was said earlier that the money would be deposited in an escrow account to await a local court's decision on who the money belongs to.

However, Finance Department sources said the money will be placed in a government account in the Philippine National Bank.

The government, the Marcos family and some 10,000 human rights victims, who were earlier awarded some $2 billion in damages by a U.S. court, claim parts of the money.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government, which is trying to recover wealth allegedly stolen during the Marcos era, has sequestered almost 47 percent of San Miguel shares on suspicion they were obtained by Marcos aides illegally.

A key Marcos ally, Eduardo Cojuangco, still disputes ownership of most of the shares and the case has been tied up in litigation for over a decade.

Local newspapers, citing sources close to Cojuangco, said the ex-Marcos pal would not enter into any deals.

President Fidel Ramos also said Friday that any deal transferring control of San Miguel to another party would only take effect after he steps down in June.

His announcement follows criticism from the opposition that the sale of San Miguel shares would be linked to the election campaign of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Ramos's candidate in the May presidential elections. Ramos has strongly denied the accusation.

Meanwhile, the Philippines leading opposition party launched yesterday a former film-star as its presidential candidate, making the most of a cabinet minister's leaked comments that the economy was in worse shape than the government admitted.

"Once and for all we can get rid of a government of corruption. We begin the fight against economic failure and fiscal excess, against poverty, helplessness and hopelessness," Joseph Estrada told a packed hall in the capital.

Estrada, nicknamed "Erap", is widely distrusted by businessmen who fear his limited grasp of economics could end up throwing the economy off-track once more.

But the 61-year-old one-time action movie hero and current vice president continues to top opinion polls in the race to succeed President Fidel Ramos who, under the constitution, must step down when his one six-year term ends in June.

Ramos, who in the past year has completely sidelined Estrada in his job as vice president, was forced to give up attempts to rewrite the charter so he could run again in the May 11 general election.

Until the regional currency crisis struck last July, Ramos's rule had been a model of reform and growth that looked certain to turn Asia's poor relation into its newest economic tiger.