Sen. Imee Marcos is campaigning for reeelection and she has been doing the rounds double-time as surveys indicate she is out of the winning circle although she enjoys the support of her brother, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and “backing” from her best friend forever (BFF), Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio.
The public perception is that she is neither here nor there, part of the Alyansa ng Bagong Pilipino (ABP) but she identifies herself as independent, which means she can be endorsed by the Dutertes and Apollo Quiboloy while being chummy with the complete Marcos Jr. slate. The trouble here is that, as the saying goes, “namamangka sa dalawang ilog,” is hardly a principled stand but an opportunistic stance for someone who wants to enjoy the best of both worlds. Standing in the middle of two warring factions is pretty dangerous as two bullets might hit you and the episode will just be dismissed as a case of collateral damage, the victim the unfortunate casualty of friendly fire.
The latest Imee caper is to insert herself into the Panagbenga Flower Festival in Baguio City, where she brought her “Ilocos Norte” float to join the 42 official floats for the parade and campaigned among the participants, contrary to the rules imposed by organizers. Panagbenga bans politicians from campaigning during the festival and the organizers promptly banned her from participating in the future, along with senatorial aspirant Lito Lapid, who also barged into the parade and distributed campaign materials. As senator, Imee sits as a member of the bicameral conference committee (BCC), which lawmakers themselves regard as the one that actually crafts the annual budget that oozes with pork barrel. As a prospective member of the Senate as a juror in the impeachment court for the trial of Sara, she has already registered her “No” vote, thus acquitting her BFF. Voters should bear that in mind.
Of all the candidates, she probably has the longest experience in the corridors of power. She was already 17 when martial law was declared by her father and she took control of the Kabataang Barangay (KB) as the only recognized youth organization during the dark days of the fascist dictatorship. The KB became her crucible as it mimicked the rituals of the Katipunan to infuse patriotic fervor among the youth, complete with initiation into the fold by masked creatures and elevating the organization into an adjunct of the Marcos Brownshirts.
At 22, Imee was flustered when a daring student of the Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), Archimedes Trajano, stood up in an open forum at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) on August 1977 to question her capability to lead the youth, arguing she was named KB chief only because she was the daughter of Marcos. She was put on the spot when the issue of human rights violations was raised. Eager-beaver security escorts promptly took Trajano into custody as his questions rattled Imee: Trajano crossed a red line. On Sept. 2, 1977, Trajano’s limp and bloodied corpse was found on the streets of Manila, with torture marks suggesting the student was battered for more than 12 hours.
Trajano’s mother sued Imee Marcos before the US district court in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Mar. 20, 1986, nearly a month after the ousted Marcos family fled to the United States. In 1991, the US court awarded $4.4 million in damages to the Trajano family. Two years later, the Trajano family filed a civil case with the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) to collect on compensation from Marcos. Rather than render justice to the Trajanos, then Supreme Court (SC) Associated Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. of the Third Division voided the Oct. 11, 1994 decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) which ordered Pasig RTC Branch 163 to junk Marcos’ motion to dismiss the case because the summons was not properly served to her on July 6, 1993, to which Velasco agreed. At the time of the service, Imee claimed she was still residing in Singapore. This procedural error still cannot kill the award by the US court and the Trajanos could still opt to search for Imee’s properties, bank deposits, and other assets in the US, where federal courts can exercise jurisdiction, or in offshore accounts in US Trust territories.
As Ilocos Norte governor, Imee was questioned about the misuse of P66.5 million in tobacco funds in 2017. She was ordered detained by the House committee on good government and public accountability but evaded the punishment by showing up during a hearing, where she admitted that her claim about a P100-million fund for lawmakers was put up to ensure that she is detained. “This statement was not true, and I am apologizing to the House, former president Benigno Aquino III, who was my colleague here, and to Liberal Party members,” she confessed. Imee only apologized after she was threatened with contempt four times. A congressman found it irregular that Imee signed the checks for the purchase of 70 mini-trucks and 40 minicabs even before bidding could be held but the governor said she could not remember the dates when the checks were signed as well as the scheduled bidding but noted that the bids and awards committee recommended “direct contraction” as only one firm offered to supply the vehicles.
The following year, the Lower House recommended that Imee be charged with graft for misusing Ilocos Norte’s share of the tobacco excise tax. Committee Report No. 638 faulted Marcos, her subordinates, as well as Mark Chua, identified as her “longtime partner,” for the “highly irregular and illegal” procurement of 110 Foton minicabs that were found overpriced by P21.45 million. Granstar Motors and Industrial Corp. president Fabian Go sold the minicabs to Chua for P270,000 each. Chua then sold the vehicles to the provincial government for P465,000 each, or an overprice of P195,000 per vehicle. Republic Act No. 7171 does not permit the use of tax proceeds to buy vehicles. The funds could only be used to advance the self-reliance of tobacco farmers through cooperative, livelihood, agro-industrial and infrastructure projects. Provincial officials were accused of violating the Government Procurement Reform Act since they engaged in direct contracting rather than public bidding. The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) did not approve an appropriation ordinance for the purchase of the vehicles and lump-sum funds were illegally used. The Commission on Audit (COA) also bans the use of cash advances for the purchase of vehicles. Finally, the vehicles were not registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in violation of Republic Act No. 4136. Voters, beware! (DIEGO MORRA)
