Imelda Marcos, the widow of deposed Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, has declared her net worth to be 932.8 million pesos (US$22 million), parliamentary records show, as she continues to fight the government over her assets more than two decades after her husband’s reign ended.
Imelda Marcos declared wealth of US$22 million last year, records released late on Thursday showed, which would make her the -second-richest Philippine politician behind boxing hero and congressman Manny Pacquiao.
The amount declared was almost 50 percent higher than in 2010, with the 82-year-old including new assets which were surrendered to the government by her husband’s associates.
A popular revolt toppled Ferdinand Marcos from power in 1986, sending the family fleeing overseas. Manila has since been trying to recover the wealth he and his allies allegedly accumulated through graft during his 20 years in office.
The deposed president died in exile in 1989 and his family was allowed to return home, with his widow elected in 2010 to a congressional seat representing a family stronghold.
Before she was elected Imelda Marcos complained of being nearly penniless, despite living in a luxury condominium unit and frequently appearing in public, bedecked with jewelry.
Her lawyer Robert Sison said his client, known for her jet-set lifestyle and love of shoes, could not touch much of her declared wealth as it had been seized or sequestered by the government.
“The ownership of these properties is being contested and the government is not off the hook,” he said.
Sison said Imelda Marcos’ declared worth rose last year because she added assets that had been surrendered to the government by her husband’s associates, wealth that was previously “overlooked.”
The lawyer said his client was the true owner of the assets and would seek to recover them.
In the Philippines elected officials are required to declare their wealth each year.
Pacquiao, rated by many as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, was elected to parliament in 2010 and declared assets worth 1.3 billion pesos.
Since her personal telephone number was posted online, Hong Kong democracy advocate and Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions chairperson Carol Ng has received menacing calls from strangers and been bombarded with messages calling her a “cockroach.” She is not alone. A sophisticated and shady Web site called HK Leaks has ramped up its “doxxing” — where people’s personal details are published online — of Hong Kong democracy advocates, targeting those it says have broken Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Promoted by groups linked to the Chinese Chinese Communist Party and hosted on Russia-based servers, HK Leaks has become the most prominent “doxxing”
A Malaysian student whose cellphone was stolen while he was sleeping has tracked down the culprit: a monkey who took photo and video selfies with the device before abandoning it. Zackrydz Rodzi, 20, on Wednesday said that his mobile phone was missing from his bedroom when he woke up on Saturday. He found the phone’s casing under his bed, but there was no sign of robbery in his house in Johor state. JUNGLE When his father saw a monkey the next day, he searched in the jungle behind his house. Using his brother’s cellphone to call his own device, he found it covered
‘CONFESSED’: A court in Beijing said that former CCP member Ren Zhiqiang abused his power at a state firm and embezzled almost US$7.14 million of public funds A Chinese tycoon who called Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a clown and criticized his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was yesterday jailed for 18 years for corruption, bribery and embezzlement of public funds. Ren Zhiqiang (任志強) — once among the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) inner circle — disappeared from the public eye in March, shortly after penning an essay that lambasted Xi’s pandemic response. His outspokenness had earned the former chairman of state-owned property developer Huayuan Group the nickname “Big Cannon.” Yesterday’s verdict said that Ren embezzled almost 50 million yuan (US$7.4 million) of public funds and accepted bribes worth 1.25 million
AUSTRALIAN SITE: China has had a contract with SSC’s Yatharagga station since at least 2011, but the last time it used it was in June 2013. No final date has been given China would lose access to a strategic space tracking station in Western Australia when its contract expires, the facility’s owners said, a decision that cuts into Beijing’s expanding space exploration and navigational capabilities in the Pacific region. The Swedish Space Corp (SSC) has had a contract allowing Beijing access to the satellite antenna at the station since at least 2011. The station is located next to an SSC satellite station primarily used by the US and its agencies, including NASA. The Swedish state-owned company said it would not enter into any new contracts at the Australian site to support Chinese customers after
RSS