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Operation Big Bird
"Operation Big Bird" (Filipino: Oplan Big Bird) was the attempt of the Philippine Government during the presidency of Corazon Aquino to recover an alleged US$7.5 billion of hidden accounts and assets of President Ferdinand Marcos and his family in Swiss banks. Conceived by Philippine banker Michael de Guzman, it commenced shortly after Marcos was forced into exile in the United States. Initially, Operation Big Bird did not recover any money, with two differing reports by Representative Victorio Chaves and Senator Jovito Salonga. Chaves laid the blame upon Salonga, Solicitor-General Sedfrey Ordoñez and the Swiss bank lawyers. Salonga countered that Ordoñez had prevented the Philippine government from losing a large sum of money. Evidence suggests that de Guzman acted in good faith on behalf of the new government but that a double cross may have been involved.
After Ferdinand Marcos and his family were sent to exile in Hawaii, President Aquino's Executive Order No. 1 on February 28, 1986, created the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). The mandate of the PCGG was to recover all the ill-gotten wealth of Ferdinand Marcos, his family, relatives, associates, and cronies. Salonga was called to head the PCGG.
Operation Big Bird began when Filipino banker and Chairman of Credit Manila, de Guzman, contacted the Aquino administration and offered his services to recover the Marcos' wealth in the various banks in Switzerland and other countries. De Guzman then was put in touch with Brigadier General Jose T. Almonte and Charlie Avila.
The banks, financial institutions and other companies that dealt with the Marcos wealth and assets were held in various countries, namely:
On March 21, 1968, Marcos opened his first bank account in Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City and deposited US$215,000.00. In March 1968, an official of Credit Suisse in Zurich, Walter Fessler, was brought to Manila on the request of Malacañang. Forms were filled out and signatures appended. Marcos, on his signature verification form, wrote "William Saunders," an alias he had used in his World War II days, and underneath that name he wrote his real name. Imelda Marcos did the same, choosing "Jane Ryan" as her pseudonym. Four bank accounts were opened and four checks, totaling US$950,000.00 were deposited. In 1982 Credit Manila established its operations in Vienna with the incorporation of Exportfinanzierungsbank GmbH. In 1985 Mike De Guzman made acquaintance with Victor Bou Dagher, a Lebanese national residing in Austria who had some connections and acquaintances in the European banking network. De Guzman later introduced Dagher to Gen. Almonte in Manila in view of the news of Marcos hiding and moving their wealth in Swiss banks. The group outlined their plans to capture Marcos' money. On February 25, 1986, the People Power Revolution brought about the downfall of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos, his family, and retinue were taken by U.S. Air Force helicopters from the PSG Compound across the Pasig River from Malacañan Palace, and were brought to Clark Air Base. The next day they were flown to Guam.
On February 26, 1986, the Marcos party arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, beginning their exile. U.S. Customs officers spent five hours going over the 278 crates that the group had brought with them. Twenty-two crates contained more than Php27.7 million in newly minted currency, mostly hundred-peso denominations worth approximately US$1,270,000.00 There were other certificates of deposit from Philippine banks worth about US$1 million, five handguns, 154 videotapes, seventeen cassette tapes, and 2,068 pages of documents - all of which were impounded by Customs. The Marcos party was allowed to keep only US$300,000.00 in gold and $150,000.00 in bearer bonds that they brought in with their personal luggage, because they declared them and broke no US customs laws. There were 24 one-kilo gold bars fitted into a $17,000 hand-tooled Gucci briefcase with a solid gold buckle and a plaque on it that read, "To Ferdinand Marcos, from Imelda, on the Occasion of our 24th Wedding Anniversary." On March 1, 1986, De Guzman returned to Vienna and met with Dagher who updated him on the various reactions within the Swiss banking community regarding the recent developments in Manila. De Guzman began to take action on how to transfer the money from the Swiss Banks to Austria. On March 2, 1986, De Guzman and Dagher flew to Lebanon via Cyprus to meet with some contacts in the European banking industry -- Beirut being the banking capital of the Mediterranean basin. After arriving in Jounieh, De Guzman and Dagher met with fellow bankers who informed them how Iran was able to recover the frozen assets of Shāh Mohammad-Rezā Pahlavi, in Switzerland. De Guzman was told by the contacts that the Swiss banks would be moving the Marcos money to various financial institutions to safeguard the deposits and avoid a massive withdrawal, which the bankers alleged was a practice of the Swiss banking system. This resulted in the suggestion that De Guzman should go to Hawaii and meet with the Marcoses to get power of attorney to withdraw the money on their behalf before the banks closed-in on the accounts. De Guzman claimed he had no intimate association with the Marcoses, but that his only contact would be Col. Irwin Ver, former Commanding Officer of the Presidential Security Group, and son of General Fabian Ver. It was then that De Guzman and his associates started calling the plan "Operation Big Bird." On March 12, 1986, President Aquino passes Executive Order No. 2, freezing all Marcos assets in the Philippines.
On March 18, 1986, De Guzman and Dagher arrived in Honolulu and met Col. Ver and Gen. Ver. On March 20, 1986, De Guzman received a call from Irwin Ver who confirmed that a meeting had been arranged with the Marcoses - Ferdinand, Imelda and Bongbong - at their temporary lodging in base housing inside Hickam AFB. At the meeting De Guzman shared the news that the Swiss banks would make a move on their account. Marcos wanted to confirm this information and sent Bongbong and De Guzman at around 10:00 pm to Honolulu International Airport to call their personal banker in Credit Suisse, Ernst Scheller. The off-base call was made to avoid possible wire taps or listening devices. Upon their return to base housing, the Marcoses hold a family meeting where Bongbong updated the family through a teleconference. An hour later, Bongbong left with De Guzman for the airport once more, but this time the telephone operator refused to give Bongbong the international connection. They returned to base housing where De Guzman received a note from Imelda stating "Palmy Foundation" and a plastic bag containing traveler's cheques worth US$300,000.00. Imelda produced a Power of Attorney and tasked Bongbong with handing this to De Guzman back at the hotel. Bongbong informed De Guzman Ernst Scheller at Credit Suisse, and told him to get in touch with Scheller once they entered Switzerland.
On March 24, 1986, De Guzman flew with Dagher to Zurich to meet with Scheller and present the Power of Attorney to transfer the Marcos money to the Exportfinanzierungsbank in Vienna. They were initially informed by Scheller that the Swiss authorities have put a "freeze order" on all the accounts linked to the Marcoses, but failed to produce any formal documentation on this. Scheller also mentioned that he re-documented the records already and moved the accounts as instructed by Ms. Fe Gimenez, Marcos' personal secretary, three weeks before after their evacuation of Malacañan Palace. Without the formal notice of the freeze order, De Guzman suspects Scheller of stalling the transfer in protection of the interest of Credit Suisse and not the Marcoses. After the meeting, Scheller calls on the Swiss Federal Banking Commission that De Guzman was trying to transfer US$213 Million to Vienna. That very same evening the Banking Commission, in an unprecedented move, imposed an emergency freeze order on all the accounts of the Marcoses. This act was questioned later since the Banking Commission does not have the authority to freeze bank accounts. The Swiss Federal Council taking note of the confusion created by the Banking Commission's "freeze order" made a follow through act, and formalized the freeze order in anticipation of the new Philippine government's claim on the said accounts. The Aquino government welcomed the freeze order, and the PCGG hired three prominent Swiss lawyers Messr. Sergio Salvioni, Guy Fontanet, and Moritz Leuenberger, to handle its case. The said lawyers were recommended by Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court Otto Konstantin Kaufmann, who was the classmate of Salonga in Yale University. On April 18, 1986, the Philippine government submitted an informal request to the Swiss authorities for mutual assistance in the recovery of the Marcos wealth. On April 25, 1986, the Government of the Philippines submitted a follow-through formal request for mutual assistance to investigate and retrieve the ill-gotten wealth. The Swiss Federal Office of Police then issued a freeze order in substitution for the exceptional freezing order of the Federal Council.
Operation Big Bird
"Operation Big Bird" (Filipino: Oplan Big Bird) was the attempt of the Philippine Government during the presidency of Corazon Aquino to recover an alleged US$7.5 billion of hidden accounts and assets of President Ferdinand Marcos and his family in Swiss banks. Conceived by Philippine banker Michael de Guzman, it commenced shortly after Marcos was forced into exile in the United States. Initially, Operation Big Bird did not recover any money, with two differing reports by Representative Victorio Chaves and Senator Jovito Salonga. Chaves laid the blame upon Salonga, Solicitor-General Sedfrey Ordoñez and the Swiss bank lawyers. Salonga countered that Ordoñez had prevented the Philippine government from losing a large sum of money. Evidence suggests that de Guzman acted in good faith on behalf of the new government but that a double cross may have been involved.
After Ferdinand Marcos and his family were sent to exile in Hawaii, President Aquino's Executive Order No. 1 on February 28, 1986, created the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). The mandate of the PCGG was to recover all the ill-gotten wealth of Ferdinand Marcos, his family, relatives, associates, and cronies. Salonga was called to head the PCGG.
Operation Big Bird began when Filipino banker and Chairman of Credit Manila, de Guzman, contacted the Aquino administration and offered his services to recover the Marcos' wealth in the various banks in Switzerland and other countries. De Guzman then was put in touch with Brigadier General Jose T. Almonte and Charlie Avila.
The banks, financial institutions and other companies that dealt with the Marcos wealth and assets were held in various countries, namely:
On March 21, 1968, Marcos opened his first bank account in Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City and deposited US$215,000.00. In March 1968, an official of Credit Suisse in Zurich, Walter Fessler, was brought to Manila on the request of Malacañang. Forms were filled out and signatures appended. Marcos, on his signature verification form, wrote "William Saunders," an alias he had used in his World War II days, and underneath that name he wrote his real name. Imelda Marcos did the same, choosing "Jane Ryan" as her pseudonym. Four bank accounts were opened and four checks, totaling US$950,000.00 were deposited. In 1982 Credit Manila established its operations in Vienna with the incorporation of Exportfinanzierungsbank GmbH. In 1985 Mike De Guzman made acquaintance with Victor Bou Dagher, a Lebanese national residing in Austria who had some connections and acquaintances in the European banking network. De Guzman later introduced Dagher to Gen. Almonte in Manila in view of the news of Marcos hiding and moving their wealth in Swiss banks. The group outlined their plans to capture Marcos' money. On February 25, 1986, the People Power Revolution brought about the downfall of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos, his family, and retinue were taken by U.S. Air Force helicopters from the PSG Compound across the Pasig River from Malacañan Palace, and were brought to Clark Air Base. The next day they were flown to Guam.
On February 26, 1986, the Marcos party arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, beginning their exile. U.S. Customs officers spent five hours going over the 278 crates that the group had brought with them. Twenty-two crates contained more than Php27.7 million in newly minted currency, mostly hundred-peso denominations worth approximately US$1,270,000.00 There were other certificates of deposit from Philippine banks worth about US$1 million, five handguns, 154 videotapes, seventeen cassette tapes, and 2,068 pages of documents - all of which were impounded by Customs. The Marcos party was allowed to keep only US$300,000.00 in gold and $150,000.00 in bearer bonds that they brought in with their personal luggage, because they declared them and broke no US customs laws. There were 24 one-kilo gold bars fitted into a $17,000 hand-tooled Gucci briefcase with a solid gold buckle and a plaque on it that read, "To Ferdinand Marcos, from Imelda, on the Occasion of our 24th Wedding Anniversary." On March 1, 1986, De Guzman returned to Vienna and met with Dagher who updated him on the various reactions within the Swiss banking community regarding the recent developments in Manila. De Guzman began to take action on how to transfer the money from the Swiss Banks to Austria. On March 2, 1986, De Guzman and Dagher flew to Lebanon via Cyprus to meet with some contacts in the European banking industry -- Beirut being the banking capital of the Mediterranean basin. After arriving in Jounieh, De Guzman and Dagher met with fellow bankers who informed them how Iran was able to recover the frozen assets of Shāh Mohammad-Rezā Pahlavi, in Switzerland. De Guzman was told by the contacts that the Swiss banks would be moving the Marcos money to various financial institutions to safeguard the deposits and avoid a massive withdrawal, which the bankers alleged was a practice of the Swiss banking system. This resulted in the suggestion that De Guzman should go to Hawaii and meet with the Marcoses to get power of attorney to withdraw the money on their behalf before the banks closed-in on the accounts. De Guzman claimed he had no intimate association with the Marcoses, but that his only contact would be Col. Irwin Ver, former Commanding Officer of the Presidential Security Group, and son of General Fabian Ver. It was then that De Guzman and his associates started calling the plan "Operation Big Bird." On March 12, 1986, President Aquino passes Executive Order No. 2, freezing all Marcos assets in the Philippines.
On March 18, 1986, De Guzman and Dagher arrived in Honolulu and met Col. Ver and Gen. Ver. On March 20, 1986, De Guzman received a call from Irwin Ver who confirmed that a meeting had been arranged with the Marcoses - Ferdinand, Imelda and Bongbong - at their temporary lodging in base housing inside Hickam AFB. At the meeting De Guzman shared the news that the Swiss banks would make a move on their account. Marcos wanted to confirm this information and sent Bongbong and De Guzman at around 10:00 pm to Honolulu International Airport to call their personal banker in Credit Suisse, Ernst Scheller. The off-base call was made to avoid possible wire taps or listening devices. Upon their return to base housing, the Marcoses hold a family meeting where Bongbong updated the family through a teleconference. An hour later, Bongbong left with De Guzman for the airport once more, but this time the telephone operator refused to give Bongbong the international connection. They returned to base housing where De Guzman received a note from Imelda stating "Palmy Foundation" and a plastic bag containing traveler's cheques worth US$300,000.00. Imelda produced a Power of Attorney and tasked Bongbong with handing this to De Guzman back at the hotel. Bongbong informed De Guzman Ernst Scheller at Credit Suisse, and told him to get in touch with Scheller once they entered Switzerland.
On March 24, 1986, De Guzman flew with Dagher to Zurich to meet with Scheller and present the Power of Attorney to transfer the Marcos money to the Exportfinanzierungsbank in Vienna. They were initially informed by Scheller that the Swiss authorities have put a "freeze order" on all the accounts linked to the Marcoses, but failed to produce any formal documentation on this. Scheller also mentioned that he re-documented the records already and moved the accounts as instructed by Ms. Fe Gimenez, Marcos' personal secretary, three weeks before after their evacuation of Malacañan Palace. Without the formal notice of the freeze order, De Guzman suspects Scheller of stalling the transfer in protection of the interest of Credit Suisse and not the Marcoses. After the meeting, Scheller calls on the Swiss Federal Banking Commission that De Guzman was trying to transfer US$213 Million to Vienna. That very same evening the Banking Commission, in an unprecedented move, imposed an emergency freeze order on all the accounts of the Marcoses. This act was questioned later since the Banking Commission does not have the authority to freeze bank accounts. The Swiss Federal Council taking note of the confusion created by the Banking Commission's "freeze order" made a follow through act, and formalized the freeze order in anticipation of the new Philippine government's claim on the said accounts. The Aquino government welcomed the freeze order, and the PCGG hired three prominent Swiss lawyers Messr. Sergio Salvioni, Guy Fontanet, and Moritz Leuenberger, to handle its case. The said lawyers were recommended by Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court Otto Konstantin Kaufmann, who was the classmate of Salonga in Yale University. On April 18, 1986, the Philippine government submitted an informal request to the Swiss authorities for mutual assistance in the recovery of the Marcos wealth. On April 25, 1986, the Government of the Philippines submitted a follow-through formal request for mutual assistance to investigate and retrieve the ill-gotten wealth. The Swiss Federal Office of Police then issued a freeze order in substitution for the exceptional freezing order of the Federal Council.