Duterte open to negotiate with Marcoses for partial return of ill-gotten wealth

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte on Tuesday disclosed the Marcos family’s plan to return a portion of their ill-gotten wealth to state coffers and his willingness to create a new agency that will handle the negotiations. Speaking to newly appointed officials in Malacañang, Mr. Duterte said a spokesman for the Marcoses told him that the family will give back a “few gold bars” to the government to help his administration address “projected deficit spending.” “They are ready to return. How much? They would give me an accounting,” Mr. Duterte said. The President said he is “scouting” for a person who will manage the deal and head a new “anti-graft” agency that he will establish without dissolving the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), whose mandate is to run after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses. “I will create another office,” he said. — Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral