We know who are very corrupted in Malaysia and let the same spirit of punitive measures be done on BN and those few very corrupted all in Police Reports sort of dormant. Joshua
Learning from recovery of Marcos assets
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/headlines-mt/42268-learning-from-recovery-of-marcos-assets
- Published on 25 February 2013
- Hits: 180
- Written by ALBERT DEL ROSARIO, SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DIDIER BURKHALTER SWISS MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
| Confetti rain down on thousands who
attended the celebration of the 27th anniversary of the EDSA People
Power revolt. The Monday’s event was made memorable with the signing by
President Benigno Aquino 3rd of the Human Rights Victims Reparation Act.
PHOTO BY MIGUEL DE GUZMAN |
On January 28, 2013, the Philippine Congress, wrapping up a thorough
and inclusive legislative process, passed the landmark law on the
reparation and recognition of victims of human rights violations during
late strongman Ferdinand Marcos’ regime. President Benigno Aquino 3rd
brought the compensation act into force by signing it on February 25.
The passage of the act reflects the high importance the
Philippine government is devoting to the promotion and protection of
human rights. It helps ensure that gross human rights violations under a
dictatorship will never happen again in the Philippines.
This
widely supported legislation puts an end to the long quest for justice
for many thousands of victims of the Marcos regime. It is one of the
first and most prominent cases where assets looted from the state have
been returned to the rightful owner in a fair manner through the funds
recovered from a corrupt dictator. It also sets new standards for the
future restitution and use of illegally acquired funds. It is difficult
to find a better example of retributive justice.
The peaceful
People Power revolution of 1986 was a turning point in Philippine
history. Filipinos were galvanized by former president Corazon “Cory”
Aquino, the mother of the current Philippine president, and ousted the
corrupt Marcos regime. The uprising returned democracy to the country
after years of martial law, political aberrations, economic
mismanagement and egregious human rights abuses.
Indeed, the
severity of these human rights violations was only matched by the
excessive greed of the dictator and his cronies. The act finally
recognizes the plight of the many thousands of victims of the Marcos
regime and awards them long overdue financial compensation, legal
recognition, their individual acknowledgment on a victims’ honor roll
and a moral tribute to their suffering.
The law also marks an
important stage in a remarkable joint effort between two countries to
right the wrongs committed by the Marcos regime.
Only hours after
the ousting of the dictator in February 1986, the Swiss government
imposed an unprecedented governmental freezing order on all Marcos
assets located in Switzerland.
It did so after being informed by a
Swiss bank that a representative of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos had
requested the transfer of assets out of Switzerland.
Soon after
the freeze, the Philippine government filed a request for mutual legal
assistance with the Swiss authorities, thereby setting in motion the
process to repatriate the assets stolen by Marcos. A number of legal
hurdles had to be overcome in these novel proceedings before $684
million could be transferred to the Philippines.
In 1997, the
Swiss Supreme Court issued its final ruling enabling the funds to be
legally moved out of Switzerland. After being held in escrow, the money
was finally released to the Philippine Treasury in 2003, following a
Philippine Supreme Court decision ordering the forfeiture of the Marcos
assets. This restitution marked one of the largest sums ever returned by
any government to a country formerly ruled by a kleptocratic regime.
The
successful process of returning the Marcos assets to the Philippines
has been a formidable learning experience for both our countries as well
as for the international community. Prior to the Marcos restitution, no
other case involving similar amounts of money had been brought to a
successful conclusion—and not many since.
The close cooperation
was clearly beneficial to the Philippines and Switzerland. First and
foremost, the Filipino people regained hundreds of millions of dollars
that had been stolen from them. Moreover, it contributed to bring
closure to a difficult time in their history. Switzerland also profited
from the experience.
By freezing the Marcos assets, the Swiss
government manifested its political will to prevent its financial center
from being abused by dictators and autocratic regimes. The message
proclaimed was clear: Switzerland is a high-risk place for illegal
funds.
Building on the Marcos experience, the same powers to
freeze dictators’ funds have been reapplied by the Swiss authorities
repeatedly, most notably in the wake of the Arab Spring of early 2011,
when the assets of three former regimes were blocked.
Since
1986, Switzerland has returned over $ 1.7 billion of assets stolen by
politically exposed persons and their cronies to their countries of
origin, more than any other financial center in the world has ever
returned. Today, the Swiss expertise and commitment to asset recovery is
recognized internationally.
The Philippine-Swiss cooperation
made a significant contribution to the international debate on the
handling and restitution of funds illegally funneled abroad by
politically exposed persons. Thus, the Marcos restitution has become a
model for the recovery of stolen assets, an issue of increasing
importance in the global fight against corruption. It also had a direct
impact on the negotiations of the UN Convention Against Corruption
(Uncac), which devotes an entire chapter to asset recovery.
President
Aquino’s steadfast efforts to promote good governance, to curb
corruption and to end impunity are bearing fruit. The recently signed
Involuntary Disappearance Act and the passage of the compensation bill
further advance this agenda.
The Swiss government’s determination
to prevent illegal funds from ending up in its financial institutions
by tightening anti-money laundering provisions and advancing the
restitution of assets of corrupt officials resonates to the same tune.
Indeed,
our countries’ joint efforts go beyond the specificities of the Marcos
asset recovery. Cooperating in the struggle against corruption is as
much a moral necessity as it is a legal obligation, explicitly stated in
the Uncac.
Yet, in the end, success also depends on the ability
and willingness of the involved states to work together in a spirit of
cooperation and trust.
The Philippine-Swiss experience clearly
underscores this fact. If the cooperation between our two countries has
contributed not only toward bringing closure to a painful chapter of
Philippine history, but also helped to emphasize that progress in the
fight against corruption necessitates determination and close
cooperation of all parties involved, it will have served an important
goal beyond the specific case, or the testimony to the excellent
bilateral relations between our two countries.
United
States President Barack Obama had also made a mistake when reciting his
oath in taking office for his first term in 2009. However, in Obama’s
case, before he began work the next day, he took the proper oath.
“Najib has also added the words ‘kepercayaan dan’ (trust and) before the words menumpahkan. Besides this, in taking his vouch of secrecy, Najib had replaced the word ‘mana-mana orang’ with ‘sesiapa’ (anybody) and also the word ‘sewajarnya’ with ‘sempurna’ (perfection).