Art, Antiques, Lace, Luggage, TV Sets : Aquino Aides Stop Theft by Marcos Allies in N.Y.

NEW YORK â€”  Caretakers in former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos’ unofficial residence in New York tried to remove gold-filigreed plates, antique lace, designer luggage, Sony TVs and stereo equipment and dozens of bulging boxes and trunks before fleeing the building.

But volunteers loyal to the new government of President Corazon Aquino confiscated the lace and plates and stopped shipment of other valuable art and antiques when they took over the former Philippine Consulate on East 66th Street late Tuesday morning.

Vases and a Camel

“Everything you see is an antique,� said Sally Ballera, 40, an Aquino volunteer who was helping to guard the luxurious five-story mansion Wednesday. Jumbled together around the boxes and bags were tall Chinese vases, a towering hand-carved French clock, English-hunt paintings and Philippine mahogany and shell handicrafts, including a one-humped camel and soaring eagle made of thousands of tiny shells.

One of the battered leather bags had the former First Lady’s initials, IRM, embossed in gold letters.

“We’re waiting for instructions,� Ballera said. “We haven’t taken inventory.�

Some Boxes Removed

Ballera said the three caretakers had already succeeded in removing one truckload of boxes before the Aquino forces arrived. Faded paint and nails on empty walls suggested that several paintings had been removed. One that remained was a life-sized oil portrait of Imelda Marcos standing in a flowing white dress, atop a red-carpeted stairs.

The Philippine government used the mansion as both a consulate and its mission to the United Nations until the mid-1970s. After the offices were moved to larger quarters, Imelda Marcos took it over as an unofficial residence for her frequent visits to New York.

Francisco Rodrigo, 46, a Philippines-born lawyer, said Wednesday that he was in charge of the Aquino transition team occupying the current Philippine Consulate and Mission to the United Nations. He said he had about 20 volunteers, and that most government employees from the Marcos reign were cooperating with the transition team.

“We have been told that Mrs. Marcos had $15 million worth of art and antiques stored in the town house,� Rodrigo said. “I was scandalized when I walked inside the building and saw what was there.

“From what I have seen, several paintings and antiques are missing,� Rodrigo added, whose orders from the new administration in Manila are to ensure that no government property is taken from official Philippine facilities.

‘A Poor Country’

“We are a poor country, most Filipinos live below the poverty line, and here the Philippine government owns a mansion that no one lives in and is stuffed with art works and expensive pieces of furniture,� Rodrigo continued.

“Right now, we have successfully secured the buildings to make sure no documents or furniture or valuables are taken out,� he said, adding that, so far, most of the security problems have come from the exuberance of the anti-Marcos activists.

“Yesterday, a nut came in and said he’d been insulted here a few years ago,� Rodrigo said. “He wanted me to line up the employees so he could slap their faces.�