Philippines recovered ₱164 billion peso Marcos ill-gotten Wealth – Court Ordered

Marcos Jewelry - File

Philippine Government Acquires More Marcos Jewelry

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A Philippine court decision ordering the widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to relinquish more than $100,000 in jewelry is a victory for Filipinos and shows that crime does not pay, an official said Tuesday.

The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court said Monday that former first lady Imelda Marcos should forfeit the jewelry after ruling it was ill-gotten.

Andres Bautista, chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, said the court's decision "is really a victory of the Filipino people."

"The important lesson is that crime and corruption do not pay. It may take long but eventually the long arm of the law will catch up," he said.

It is the third collection of Marcos jewelry that the government has acquired. The two other collections are estimated to be worth up to $8.4 million.

The commission, which is charged with recovering the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, is proposing that the three collections be exhibited to show the excesses of the 20-year Marcos regime, Bautista said.

There was no immediate comment from Imelda Marcos or her lawyer. The flamboyant former first lady was known for shopping sprees abroad while a majority of Filipinos remained mired in poverty at home. Her shoe collection of over 1,000 pairs became a symbol of extravagance.

Marcos Jewelries 

Marcos, who declared martial law during his rule, was toppled by a popular revolt in 1986. He died in exile in Hawaii three years later.

"We cannot deny that this is part and parcel of our history and they are examples of the excesses that were committed during the martial law regime," Bautista said. "We owe it to our future that the lessons of the past are not forgotten and the dark abuses should not return again."

Bautista said current President Benigno Aquino III has not decided whether to auction the jewelry.

The government has recovered 164 billion pesos ($3.7 billion) of Marcos' alleged hidden wealth over the years and is targeting at least 50 billion pesos ($1.1 billion) more.

The amount includes more than $600 million in Swiss accounts set up in the early years of Marcos' administration.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that the Marcos' wealth in excess of their legal income of around $304,000 from 1965 to 1986 "is presumed to be ill-gotten," Bautista said. – AFP / ABC News

 

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Onshore Oil Discovery in Cebu Philippines 200 bopd, Could suffice the Island from gas importation

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Oil discovered in Cebu close to shore

A new oil discovery in Cebu, Philippines declared by the Department of Energy is expected to augur well for the Philippines, which is heavily dependent on imported oil.

Australian firm Gas2Grid formally announced the approval by the Energy Department of its application to declare the Malolos-1 oil well on the shore of Cebu as an "oil discovery."

"The company advises (announces) that the Philippine Department of Energy has formally recognized Malolos-1 as an oil discovery and approved an extension of SC [Service Contract] 44 in order to conduct oil production with the aim of establishing a commercial oilfield," Gas2Grid said in an announcement.

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Earlier Gas2Grid managing director Dennis Morton said application for declaration of an oil discovery is the first step in appraising and developing the Malolos oilfield.

Commercial production

"When approved by the DOE it will provide an additional minimum period of 12 months to flow test the well and establish commercial production. Following the completion of that work and with the DOE's approval of commercial status, the Malolos oilfield will enter a 25 year production phase.

Morton added that available technical data also indicated the possibly that Service Contract 44 "is much larger Malolos oilfield than initially assessed."

Service Contract 44, covers 750 square kilometers in central Cebu.

Gas2Grid successfully perforated and flow tested two oil bearing sandstones in Malolos-1.

"Oil was produced on short term test at indicative production rates of between 100 to 200 barrels of oil per day (bopd) ... Previously drilled wells, Malolos-1 and Malolos-4, recorded oil bearing sandstones over a 496 meter (1,627 feet) vertical interval. The recent oil test production rates (between 100 - 200 bopd) confirm Malolos-1 as an oil discovery well.

"We are confident that further testing of Malolos-1 will result in commercial oil production from a much larger Malolos oilfield than currently assessed," Gas2Grid said.

Although measurements and testing in Malolos-1 proved that the well can produce oil at rates between 100 to 200 barrels per day, "initial assessment of the oil volume potential within the Malolos oilfield is a 'Contingent Resource' oil in place in the two oil productive sandstones in the range of between a 'Low Estimate' (1C) of 4 million barrels and a 'High Estimate' (3C) of 42 million barrels, with a 'Best Estimate' (2C) of 12 million barrels of 'Total Oil Initially in Place'."

Land proximity

Another advantage of the onshore Malolos oilfield is its proximity to land which makes transporting its products and establishing a pipeline highly feasible and commercially viable. Most of the oilfields in the country are located far offshore and required relatively bigger investments in terms of infrastructure.

Little is known publicly concerning the discovery but a July 18, 2013 service contract for Malolos 1, provides the following description: "The Malolos Oil Field is located some eight kilometres by road from the Cebu's western coast.

Oil transportation options from the Malolos Oil Field include road transport by a new, all weather, concrete road from the well site to coastal port options at nearby Aloguinsan (8 kms - less than 10 minutes by road) or the larger, established port of Toledo (32 kms - 30 minutes by road). One option would be to load the oil onto marine transport for sale either to one of two oil refineries located in Batangas, Philippines (approximately 500 kms north) or in Singapore."

Although there had been gas finds in the Philippines, most of the wells are located offshore and require considerable investments to extract. – ABS-CBN , Gulf News via Reuters

 

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MERALCO after implementing ₱4.15 KWH hike threatens Philippines to BLACKOUT other increase not approve – Govt ask to take over

 

Outrageous! Philippine Electricity rate now is the most expensive in Asia in the same level rate with Germany and Japan.

Western countries pushed for more Nuclear power plants, the Philippines is still in shock?

Is this not enough that the Government must take over the Electric companies for their continuous collusion conspiring the simultaneous shutdown to demand power hike?

In less than 3 years, the impoverish Philippines would be the most expensive power rate in the world if the government will not intervene the oligarchs conspiracy.

Philippines: Lawmaker pushes for government takeover of power utilities

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Ridon refers to successive power rate hikes initiated by Meralco

Manila: A lawmaker is pushing for a government takeover of power utility firms as he said that the country's constitution allows such a move when the people's interests are at stake.

"If Meralco and the power generators cannot deliver affordable power rates to the public, all power utilities should now be taken over by the state for its operations," Representative Terry Ridon of the youth sector party-list "Kabataan" said.

Ridon was referring to successive power rate hikes initiated by Meralco, the Philippines' century-old power utility megalith, since November. An unprecedented hike to ₱4.15 per kilowatt hour had been implemented by the power firm that month, which had consumers demanding an explanation.

The government met Meralco's rate hike with a court order preventing its implementation.

Meralco had responded to the public's outrage by warning that Metro Manila and areas it provides service to risks experiencing long power outages if the rate hike would not be implemented.

Kabataan's Ridon described the power firm's response as "fearmongering," Ridon said if Meralco continues to hold the public hostage with threats of power shortages, the government can exercise the option to declare a "national emergency" and take over of all power utilities, from generation to transmission and distribution.

"Meralco should thus be circumspect in delivering public statements which seem to blackmail the public to simply accept the reality of very high power rates," it said.

Years of poor government decisions had left Filipinos at the mercy of distribution firms like Meralco and the multitude of power generating firms that supply electricity.

"The public now knows that power generation utilities have the greatest effect on power rates. Clearly, these utilities are businesses imbued with great public interest," Ridon said.

Ridon said that he is also contemplating on filing a bill revoking Meralco's legislative franchise, for its failure to provide the public the least cost of electricity.

He is the minority member of the House committees on legislative franchises and energy.

The prospect of blackouts struck fear not only to the common consumers but also to businesses that stand to lose much from lost productivity and idle equipment.

On the part of the presidential palace, it said the government is determined to find ways to mitigate the impact of rising electricity bills once the high court's temporary restraining order on Meralco's rate adjustment is lifted.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said the government must find ways to ease the burden of the power rate hike to consumers.

As it stands, Meralco consumers are already paying for electricity that as much as in highly developed countries like Japan and Germany.

Meralco had earlier announced the rate increase was to be imposed in three tranches, as a result of the scheduled shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas plant in Palawan.

Due to the shutdown, Meralco bought more expensive electricity from the private power providers to cover for the deficit needed in its jurisdiction.

Once known as the Manila Electric Railways Corporation when it operated the capital's tram system during the early 1900s all the way to the 1940s, Meralco had since evolved into a virtual electricity distribution monopoly, delivering power to Metro Manila as well as the provinces in its periphery.

It consistently figures as among the country's top five corporations.

The last time that government took over power firms was when Martial Law was implemented by then President Ferdinand Marcos in 1973. – Gulf News

 

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