Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo yesterday expressed her dismay at the “mockery of the justice system,” as well as the “measly” P150,000 bail posted by former first lady and Ilocos Norte representative Imelda Marcos for her temporary freedom from the custody of the Sandiganbayan.
The anti-graft court’s fifth division granted the wife of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos provisional liberty on Friday morning after she was ordered arrested for snubbing her November 9 promulgation, during which she was convicted in seven graft cases.
“The P150,000 bail was too measly compared with the enormity of what was stolen. Secondly, those are just loose change to her,” Robredo said in a chance interview with reporters during her visit to a mental health facility in San Remigio, Cebu.
“I was a lawyer for the poor. Somehow, I can see that for a P10,000 bail, a client would even mortgage some of their properties or borrow money from others just to come up with that amount,” she added.
The vice president said Marcos’ alibi on the day of her conviction was “the biggest insult” to Filipinos.
“In fact, the biggest insult to us was when she partied on the day of her conviction. But she reasoned that she was sick. It’s a mockery of the justice system,” Robredo added.
On Friday’s hearing of her “motion for leave of court to avail of post-conviction remedies,” Marcos claimed that had she known about the promulgation on November 9, she would have gone to the anti-graft court.
However, in the motion that she filed last Monday, she stated that her failure to attend was “solely because she was indisposed.” Her affidavit added that she was “suffering from multiple organ infirmities and was under strict orders to refrain from stressful conditions.”
The former first lady was sentenced in each of her seven graft cases to six years and a month up to 11 years in prison, with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Marcos was convicted for participating in the management of several Swiss foundations while she was a member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa and minister of the
Ministry of Human Settlements from 1968 to 1986.
The Sandiganbayan has yet to decide whether she would be allowed to file a post-conviction bond for her graft charges.


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