Sandiganbayan Orders Marcoses to Surrender 110 Priceless Artworks

Francis Bacon, Edouard Manet, Francisco de Goya, Paul Gobillard, and Paul Cezanne. These are just some of the most famous artists whose works are being forfeited by the Sandiganbayan from the Marcos family.

The anti-graft court ordered the Marcoses to surrender or divulge the current locations of 110 artworks purchased from 1972 to 1985, regardless if they are fake.

“In the present case, the bulk of documents offered by petitioner are on file with the PCGG since 1986. These are papers which they were able to collect during their investigation,” the court said in the judgment penned by Division Chairperson Efren Dela Cruz, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Alex Quiroz and Oscar Herrer, according to a report by ABS-CBN.

At the time the artworks were acquired, they were valued at $24.325 million. Today, most of these artworks are listed as missing by the Presidential Commission on Good Government or PCGG.

In 2014, the Philippine government seized priceless pieces of artworks from the Marcos family, including works by Picasso, Gauguin, and other masters.