Senator Imee Marcos on Friday, April 1 questioned the timing of the revival of her family’s estate tax issue and blamed dirty politics for it.

The eldest daughter of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, however, emphasized that any debt owed to the government must be paid.

Imee said her family has been asking the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) regarding the amount of their tax payment considering the many developments that have happened over the years.

The BIR was reported to have demanded the payment of P203 billion in real estate taxes from the Marcos family

The real estate issue is a controversial issue in the current political campaign with former Senator Ferdinand ‘’Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. being criticized for it by his fellow presidential candidates, particularly Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao.

Presidential candidate Manila Mayor Isko Moreno also called for the urgent payment of the unsettled estate tax.

Imee said her family would not block any case involving their estate tax regardless of who wins the 2022 polls.

Her younger brother, “Bongbong”, is running for the presidency.

“Bago ang lahat, hindi ako awtoridad niyan no, kasi yung mga abogado hinahawakan yan (Before anything else, I am not an authority on the issue as it is being handled by lawyers). Thirty-six years na ang dami dami nang nangyari, medyo hilo na kami sa mga tax, tax issue na yan (This tax case is now 36 years old and many things had passed by, making us confused). Pero ang masasabi ko, kung merong utang sa gobyerno kailangang bayaran (But what I can say is that any debt to the government must be paid). At kami sa pamilya namin, lahat ng kaso namin, hinarap namin (The Marcos family has been facing all the cases lodged against us),” Marcos said during a DZMM Teleradyo interview today, April 1.

“Nagkaroon ng assessment nung 1997, kaya lang mula noon ang dami dami nang nangyari ‘di namin maintindihan (There was an assessment in 1997 and many things had occurred since and we cannot understand them). Yung iba na ina-assess, na tinatax, yung iba, binigay na sa tinatawag na cronies hindi pala amin in the first place itong mga properties na ‘to’’ (Others were assessed, others are taxed, others were even to so-called ‘cronies’ that turned out not to be ours),’’ she explained.

“Tapos yun namang siniquester, binenta na rin ng PCGG, binenta na rin ng BIR. So nagtatanong kami, magkano ba talaga yung nabenta syempre that will go against the tax payment (On the sequestered assets, they were sold by the PCGG, the BIR also sold them. So we asked ourselves, how much was really sold that would go against the tax payments?). Kaya din kami nagtatanong sa PCGG at BIR matagal na, ilang dekada na, tinatanong namin (For decades we have been asking the PCGG and BIR). Magkano na ba talaga yan (How much are they worth?). Kasi ito nga, nalilito at yung iba’t ibang ahensya, iba naman yung suma (We are confused, there are so many agencies, their amounts vary),’’ she pointed out

“Hindi ako expert diyan pagka’t di nga ako humawak ng kaso pero ang akin lang, ang dami dami nang taon, bakit biglang ngayon lumabas parang talagang paninira naman yata ito ng bulok na pulitika, inuungkat ‘to... (I am not an expert because I am not handling it and through the years, why is this being brought up ,..as if it is being used to besmirch others and is being used by dirty politics). Ang akin, yung kaso tuloy-tuloy yan kahit sino pa manalo, tuloy tuloy sa korte (This came will go to the courts, no matter who will emerge the winner). Walang problema ‘yan (That is not a problem). Hindi naman yan haharangin ng pamilya namin kailan man (The Marcos family will never block it), ” she said.

“In the meantime, kami, hinaharap namin lahat ng kaso namin at sana wag naman mahalo sa pulitika kasi mga bulok na taktika to e, bulok na politika, bakit inuungkat ngayon matapos ang halos apat na dekada (In the meantime, we have been facing these cases and we hope dirty politics is not involved here but why is it being discussed now although four decades had passed),’’she added.

The camp of Marcos Jr. has maintained that the estate tax of the Marcos family remains unsettled since the properties linked to the case are still under litigation.

The PCGG had said the BIR “already executed its final assessment” on the involved properties as early as 1993 and that “as early as 1997, the judgment on the tax case had become final and executory.”