marcos in hawaii ferdinand "bong bong" marcos jr. is scheduled to visit honolulu feb. 1 to 8, and a hawaiian judge is waiting to drag him to court.

the last time the marcoses were in the u.s., ferdinand sr. was found guilty of executions, torture and disappearances during his 14-year presidency under martial law. their assets were ordered frozen, but interest in almost all of them have doubled since their discovery in 1986. in 1996, imelda and her son were found in violation of the court order freezing their assets. they are fined $100,000 each day since then.

judge manuel real is assigned to distribute assets of the marcos estate. he's ordered bong bong to quell talking about the court proceedings while he signs a sister-state province agreement with honolulu governor linda lingle.

there's a ton of money involved in this case. the banks holding the money are appealing a ruling that states they should pay up as per real's distribution orders. this is such a high-end scandal that i think many other filipino politicians, in office presently, want to follow.

in 1986, after somewhat understanding that the money marcos stole somehow was part of what my family earned as well, i wondered what would happen if all that money were released back into the country. could all that help pay off national debts to the world bank and IMF? could that money fund rice and fishing farms in the province? can that money help out my parents so both of them can stay in the country for longer than a couple years at a time? so they won't have to work elsewhere far away?

the court procedures might make the marcoses squeeze their wealth back into the philippines... if the banks will quit appealing.

bong bong marcos is now a governor of ilocos norte, a province in northern philippines.   ¶ 1/28/2005 10:27:00 PM