Seven years have passed since Imelda Marcos was found guilty – seven counts, seven verdicts, yet not a single night spent in prison. On November 9, 2018, he Sandiganbayan delivered a judgment that should have been historic: the former First lady, widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was convicted of orchestrating the illegal transfer of approximately $200 million to shadowy Swiss foundations during her tenure as Governor of Metro Manila.For each count, she was handed a sentence of 6 to 11 years – adding up to a staggering 42 to 77 years behind bars.
Yet today, she walks free.
This is not oversight. It is not delay. It is a glaring reflection of a justice system that bends for the powerful and cracks under the weight of the poor. While ordinary Filipinos languish in overcrowded jails, often incarcerated before trial simply because they cannot afford bail, the architects of grand theft roam untouched. Political prisoners – accused on flimsy, politically weaponized charges – face immediate imprisonment. But those convicted of stealing a nation’s wealth? They are granted invisibility, immunity impunity.
The Marcos Jr. administration now wraps itself in the rhetoric of anti-corruption, launching investigations but always aimed at rivals, never at mirrors.The spotlight swings dramatically toward the alleged offenses of others, while the dark history of the Marcos family remains shrouded. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who presided over questionable flood control projects funded through unaccounted, off-budget allocations, now positions himself as a moral arbiter. The irony is as thick as the swamp his infrastructure deals reek of.
This anniversary is not just about a court ruling frozen in time. It is a wake-up call. It forces us to confront the truth: the plunder has not stopped. It has evolved. The machinery of theft, once run from Malacañang by a dictator, now operates through a vast network of bureaucratic enablers and pork barrel projects disguised as progress. Public funds meant for communities vulnerable to climate disasters vanish into the pockets of cronies – all under the watch of a president who bears the same name, the same bloodline, the same appetite for power without accountability.
And let there be no illusion: the Marcos Jr. administration is no break from the Duterte years of selective justice and performative governance. Both thrive on spectacle – crackdowns on some, cover-ups for others. But the lie is fraying.People are watching. They remember. They are rising.
A new wave of resistance is swelling – one that echoes the streets of 1986, when millions dared to believe a better Philippines was possible. CARMMA stands with that growing movement,. We know that justice delayed is justice denied. But we also know that when the people rise together, no dynasty is untouchable. No crime too great to go unpunished.
The conviction of Imelda Marcos was a verdict. But the sentence has yet to be served, And the real judgment – the one that matters – will come not from a courtroom, but from the people.
The window for justice is closing. If we don’t demand accountability today, the precedent for impunity becomes the law of the land tomorrow. Sign the Open Letter denouncing Imelda Marcos!