Seized buildings, other assets linked to Marcos dictatorship corruption fall into neglect

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The Naga lot is among the 581.33 million pesos (S$12.8 million) worth of recovered and sequestered Marcos Sr-era assets that the Commission on Audit flagged as being poorly preserved.

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Summary

• Marcos-era assets worth 581.33 million pesos are deteriorating due to weak planning and underfunding at the PCGG, says the Commission on Audit.
• The PCGGs budget is below legal limits, hindering its ability to secure and maintain recovered assets, while Marcoses record wins in ill-gotten wealth cases.
• Experts express scepticism about President Marcos Jrs anti-corruption drive, given the familys history and the PCGGs weakening due to political influence.

AI generated

MANILA – Having neither fencing nor security, the property acted as a magnet to squatters who made it their home.

It had been seized by the Philippine government after being linked to graft cases arising from the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. But a government audit in 2024 found that the property in Naga City, south of Manila, was illegally occupied by at least 15 informal settler families.

Sitting on a 5,952 sq m lot, it was once owned by the now-defunct Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation, a firm run by Marcos Sr’s crony Roberto Benedicto.

The company took over the broadcast frequencies of local news network ABS-CBN in 1973, a year after Marcos Sr declared martial law, and operated until the 1986 People Power revolt toppled the dictatorship.

The Naga lot is among the 581.33 million pesos