Gov't secures P714M from Monet art deal

A successful compromise agreement—a process initiated during the previous administration—added 714 million to national coffers last May, coming from the current owner of a Monet painting that had been sold overseas and formed part of the ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., according to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)

- By BEN ARNOLD DE VERA

“This amount represents the proceeds of a compromise agreement entered into by the Republic of the Philippines with the current possessor of Claude Monet’s ‘Water-Lily Pond’ (Le Bassin aux Nymphéas),” said the PCGG, the agency tasked with recovering and selling assets from Marcos Sr., his family, and cronies, in response to a query from Manila Bulletin.

“We would like to clarify that the painting was neither sold nor offered for sale this year,” the PCGG said.