THE Philippines has said it has recovered more than £17 million from the Swiss accounts of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The search for more of Marcos's hidden wealth continues, 28 years after he was toppled and 25 years after his death in exile.

Andres Bautista, ­chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, said the money was part of the more than £430m from Marcos's secret Swiss accounts that was now in government hands.

Mr Bautista, whose agency is in charge of recovering Marcos' ill-gotten wealth, said the government won ownership of the funds in Singapore courts over claims by victims of human rights violations under Marcos' rule and private foundations representing the Marcoses.

He said more than £2.4 billion had already been recovered from money amassed by the Marcoses during his 20-year rule.

Mr Bautista added: "There is still a lot of work that can be done in respect to pursuing ill-gotten wealth. We should not allow ill-gotten wealth, the taking of ill-gotten wealth, to go unpunished."

The supreme court ruled in 2003 the Marcoses' wealth in excess of their total legal income of around £185,000 from 1965 to 1986 was presumed to be ill-gotten.