PHILLIPPINES: The Philippines said yesterday it plans to sell millions of dollars worth of jewellery seized from former first lady Imelda Marcos, accused of plundering state coffers during her husband's two-decade rule.
The flamboyant wife of former president Ferdinand Marcos is probably best-known for her collection of more than 1,200 pairs of shoes, but she also built up an extensive jewellery collection.
Representatives from auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's will visit the Philippines next week to value the collection, said a government anti-graft agency official.
"We're trying to have it [the auction] by November," said Nick Suarez, a spokesman for the Presidential Commission on Good Governance, adding it could be held in Geneva. He said it could also take place in May next year, another peak time for jewellery sales.
The collection is reported to include a Persian-style necklace with over 100 carats of canary and pink diamonds, and a diamond-studded bracelet with a 31-carat marquise as the centre-stone. Some of the jewellery was confiscated by Philippine customs officials and by US authorities in Hawaii, where the Marcos couple fled after they were turfed out by mass protests in 1986.
Media have reported the collection's value as high as $20 million (€16.2 million), just a tiny portion of the $10 billion the couple are accused of plundering.
Under Philippine law, wealth confiscated from the Marcos couple should be sold and the money returned to the public purse.
Imelda, now in her late 70s and living in a luxury high-rise condominium in central Manila, returned to the Philippines five years after the "people power" revolt and has been fighting corruption allegations ever since.
Ferdinand died in 1989.
Vilified for her extravagance by many, Imelda Marcos also remains a heroine to her supporters, mostly slum dwellers.