Philippine anti-graft court to proceed with trial of Marcos wealth case
June 8, 2024
By Expat Media
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Sandigan to continue the trial of Marcos wealth case
The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court will continue the trial of a wealth forfeiture case involving shares of stock in a telecommunications company allegedly held in trust for late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and his wife, former first lady Imelda Marcos, by their alleged cronies or business associates.
The court's Fourth Division refused the defendants' or their agents' plea for suspension of proceedings in a nine-page decision issued on May 23.
The Fourth Division argued that without a TRO or writ of preliminary injunction from the Supreme Court, it might be held administratively accountable under Section 7 Rule 65 of the Rules of Court.
Defendants Rosario Arellano, Victoria Legarda, Angela Lobregat, Benito Nieto, Carlos Nieto, Manuel Nieto III, and Ma. Rita delos Reyes, Carmen Tuazon, Victor Africa, Ramon Nieto Jr., the legal representative of the deceased defendant Ramon Nieto, and Rafael Valdez's lawyer, Benigno Manual Valdez.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) filed the forfeiture action, Civil Case No. 0178, at the Sandiganbayan in October 1997. It attempts to reclaim 3,305 shares of Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. stock on behalf of the government (ETPI).
The shares were held in trust for the Marcoses but registered in the names of the defendants, who the PCGG characterized as the Marcoses' cronies or business partners, according to the PCGG, who was represented in court by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
The defendants claimed in their application that the proceedings should be halted since a similar case, Civil Case No. 0009, is still pending before the Supreme Court.
The government has been awarded P2.756 billion in ETPI stocks under the names of Jose Africa and Manuel Nieto Jr., small individual ETPI shareholders, and Aerocom Investors and Managers Inc., which transferred its ETPI shares to ISM Communication Corp. on July 11, 2005, according to a decision issued by the anti-graft court's Third Division on December 4, 2019.
The Fourth Division also noted that Civil Case No. 0178 was filed in 1997 specifically to include some other ETPI stockholders who were not named in Civil Case No. 0009, which was filed in 1987.
"There is no question that this Court has jurisdiction over the movants/defendants' persons as well as the case's subject matter," According to the Fourth Division, the lawsuit was brought after the Supreme Court ordered that the registered owners of such shares be named in a formal complaint.
Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna authored the decision, with Associate Justices Alex Quiroz and Georgina Hidalgo joining her.
The PCGG filed civil forfeiture actions against the Marcos family and their suspected allies before the Sandiganbayan in an attempt to reclaim billions of pesos believed to have been illegally amassed during the martial law regime.
More than a dozen cases are still ongoing, while over 20 have been dropped owing to "inadequate evidence." KMB/Expat Media
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