Shoedenfruede: Imelda Marcos and Son Hit With $300 Million in Sanctions
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]
I confess fully that having Filipino in-laws makes me pay more attention than otherwise I would:
Imelda Marcos and her son, Ferdinand R. Marcos, have been ordered to pay $353.6 million for failing to adhere to a permanent injunction tied to a $4.5 billion judgment in the multidistrict litigation over alleged human rights violations stemming from her late husband’s rule over the Philippines….
The civil contempt order was issued after it was revealed that the Marcos defendants had attempted to divide and transfer their assets to make it difficult for the class to collect the judgment, according a motion that Swift filed on March 2, 2009. They also refused to appear for depositions or produce documents, and sold art worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. When the Marcos defendants failed to renounce their asset agreements and deposit proceeds from the art sales, they were fined $100,000 per day beginning on May 23, 1995.
Given the 5,000 days that have elapsed since then, the total sanction should have been more than $500 million, Swift wrote. He asked that the sanction be terminated and that a final judgment be issued against the Marcos defendants.
The bummer in all of this is that this discussion suggests that the Marcos are moving assets out of reach, which means that those harmed by the late Marcos’ regime might be as likely to recover on their rulings as the families of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman.
And, finally, it raises the question of how much our courts should be used as a vehicle to correct injustices in other countries.
Anyway, read the whole thing (registration required).
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
And we will see shoe-related joke in 3… 2… 1…
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/2/2011 @ 7:49 amfirst they came for Imelda
Anderson Cooper (ab5779) — 2/2/2011 @ 8:21 amThe answer to that is easy: almost zero. Other than a few obvious exceptions (immigration, deportation, conspiracies to violate US law from foreign lands as in espionage or drug smuggling, etc.) the US has no business adjudicating events that occurred outside its borders or areas under its military occupation.
Anon Y. Mous (84d08b) — 2/2/2011 @ 8:44 amThis makes no sense to me, other than being consistent with the fact that many thngs don’t make sense, in which perspective it makes sense.
This had to do with compensation for victims of Marcos’ regime? Are they waiting for them all to die of old age before they are compensated?
MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 2/2/2011 @ 9:03 amGiven that the US government and more particularly the CIA never met an anti-communist kleptocrat they didn’t ♥, I’d have to say that our courts damn well ought to be used for any obtainable redress the robbed can obtain from the robbers.
Mork (d70f81) — 2/2/2011 @ 12:08 pmIn Mork’s world, is there any limit to what our government and courts can do?
JD (d4bbf1) — 2/2/2011 @ 12:13 pmIn JD’s world, is there any injustice committed against non-white, non-rich, non-American people that shouldn’t be laughed at, excused, or explained away as the fault of the victims?
Mork (d70f81) — 2/2/2011 @ 12:20 pmHow typically leftist of you. Racist. Sexist. Homophobe. Xenophobe. Imperialist. Capitalist.
JD (d4bbf1) — 2/2/2011 @ 12:27 pmHey, JD, Mork called you a racist, you racist.
Ag80 (e03e7a) — 2/2/2011 @ 12:28 pmAg – quelle shocka, no?
JD (d4bbf1) — 2/2/2011 @ 12:30 pmBy the way, Aaron: the word is “Schadenfreude”…
…which of course I take evil delight in pointing out.
Mork (d70f81) — 2/2/2011 @ 1:43 pmOr, in this case, shoedenfreude. 🙂
carlitos (09dd72) — 2/2/2011 @ 1:54 pmNice!
Mork (d70f81) — 2/2/2011 @ 1:55 pm(Sorry but comment #1’s been up all day, like a hanging curveball)
carlitos (09dd72) — 2/2/2011 @ 1:55 pmmork
i would have corrected the spelling error, but i like carlitos’ joke better than getting it right. 🙂
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 2/2/2011 @ 2:23 pmAaron: it’s the “fruede” part that’s wrong. The joke would be funnier if you fixed it.
I’m sure Sigmund Frued would agree.
Mork (d70f81) — 2/2/2011 @ 2:55 pmThis blog would be funnier if idiots did not nitpick on spelling, as opposed to Carlitos making a funny joke.
JD (d4bbf1) — 2/2/2011 @ 3:02 pmOh, nonsense, JD. Mork is obviously an expert in comedy.
SPQR (26be8b) — 2/2/2011 @ 3:17 pmUnintentional irony, to be sure.
JD (d4bbf1) — 2/2/2011 @ 3:27 pmSeems more like an Alf than a Mork.
daleyrocks (479a30) — 2/2/2011 @ 4:00 pmNot exactly a shoe related joke –
We were stationed in the Philippines from 1975 to 1978 while Marcos was president. Life there was pretty good. I found an air conditioned 4 bedroom two bath place in a secure compound called Villa Sol, had it inspected and approved by the USAF. It also had a phone which was rare off base. The Lt Col who was leaving asked me if I would hire his live in maid, Leguia. She was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, runner up in the 1974 Miss Angeles City contest. As an unapologetic pig, I agreed in a heartbeat.
Judy & the boys drove to the port, put her BMW on the boat and flew into Manila. I hired a car and driver to pick them up at the burned out airport. She was exhausted from the 21 hour trip with 3 and 6 year old boys and furious that Pan Am had lost her shih tsu, Sherman. The ride back to Clark was beautiful. When we arrived at Villa Sol, the driver honked and Leguia, in a mini skirt and heels, opened the iron gate.
Judy looked at me and asked, “Who is that?”
“That, my dear.” I replied, “is your new maid.”
She looked back and Leguia and said, “Wrong!”
Leguia was offered a job in Saudi Arabia and Judy hired the next maid who was not as easy on the eyes.
Arch (24f4f2) — 2/3/2011 @ 3:45 amThis isn’t the first time the US has faced the situation of a long time ally being driven out of power by his people. On Commentary, there is an interesting comparison between Obama’s handling of Mubarak and Reagan’s treatment of Marcos.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/wehner/388757
Obama style vs Reagan substance
Arch (24f4f2) — 2/3/2011 @ 4:10 am