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Imelda Marcos conviction debunks martial law myths, says Diokno

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<figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1419481" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>MANILA - The conviction of former First Lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos proves that anomalies did happen under the Marcos dictatorship, the son of martial law victim Jose &quot;Pepe&quot; Diokno said Monday.</p><p>Jose Manuel &quot;Chel&quot; Diokno, De La Salle University College of Law founding dean, said the Sandiganbayan ruling is a very important step in fighting the Marcoses&#x27; attempts to rewrite history so they can evade accountability.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s very important because the Marcoses have long been trying to rewrite history. They&#x27;ve been trying to say that their regime was all nice and wonderful. But this conviction shows that there was a lot of anomalies that took place at that time,&quot; he told ANC.</p><p>&quot;The myths they are trying to force are being demolished little by little. And this is one step in the right direction. This shows that we need to understand what really happened during that time,&quot; Diokno added.</p><p>The late dictator&#x27;s children have been denying the fact that atrocities and corruption happened during the Marcos regime. They also refused to apologize to the thousands of human rights victims during their father&#x27;s strongman rule.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/halalan2016/nation/08/26/15/bongbong-marcos-era-what-am-i-say-sorry">Bongbong on Marcos era: What am I to say sorry for?</a></li></ul><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/10/18/imelda-conviction-reminder-of-marcos-plunder-during-martial-law-pangilinan">Responding to calls for her family to apologize, Imee Marcos says ‘dedma’</a></li></ul><p>But after the ruling, Diokno said the public will begin to see the truth behind the 20-year rule of the Marcoses, which he said &quot;effectively destroyed&quot; the independence of the judiciary.</p><p>&quot;What they did to our legal system is something not talked about very much but they effectively destroyed the independence of the judiciary. They effectively created different kinds of lawyers, lawyers who are in effect glorified fixers,&quot; he said.</p><p>The Sandiganbayan 5th Division last Friday found the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos&#x27; widow guilty in 7 counts of graft for using her Cabinet position to maintain Swiss bank accounts during their rule. The decision came 27 years after the case was filed.</p><p>Mrs. Marcos served as the Minister of Human Settlements and was a member of the Interim Batasan Pambansa during her husband&#x27;s presidency and dictatorship from 1965 to 1986.</p><p>Marcos&#x27; graft cases stemmed from complaints filed in 1991 when prosecutors alleged that the Marcos family channeled public funds into their personal accounts overseas.</p><p>Assistant Special Prosecutor Ryan Rey Quilala said the Marcoses created 7 Swiss foundations that served as repositories of public funds.</p><p>&quot;These 7 Swiss foundations, connected sa isa&#x27;t isa. Doon pumapasok yung foreign currencies, and then they will close one tapos ita-transfer nila doon sa isa,&quot; he said.</p><p>(These 7 Swiss foundations are connected. Foreign currencies were deposited into those foundation. They would close one account and transfer the funds to the others.)</p><p>While Diokno welcomes the decision, he warned that the public still has to be vigilant as the Marcoses &quot;will move heaven and Earth&quot; just to evade accountability, and they may even take the graft case all the way up to the Supreme Court.</p><p>&quot;We were elated but at the same time, we take it with a grain of salt because we understand the legal process. We know that the Marcoses will move heaven and Earth to get the conviction overturned. We hope the Supreme Court will act fairly on this case,&quot; he said.</p><p>Diokno is gunning for a Senate seat in the 2019 polls under the opposition slate. He will be facing off with Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, daughter of the late dictator.</p><p>The Philippine Commission on Good Government estimates the Marcos family&#x27;s ill-gotten wealth to reach &quot;between US$5 billion to US$10 billion, the bulk of it being deposited and hidden abroad.&quot; The government has recovered a total of P170 billion in the past 30 years.</p>

<p>The conviction of former First Lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos proves that anomalies did happen under the Marcos dictatorship, the son of martial law victim Jose "Pepe" Diokno said Monday.</p>

The conviction of former First Lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos proves that anomalies did happen under the Marcos dictatorship, the son of martial law victim Jose "Pepe" Diokno said Monday.