Court admits more evidence in ill-gotten wealth cases vs. ex-Pres. Marcos, others

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 30) — The Sandiganbayan has allowed the admission of additional evidence in two ill-gotten wealth cases filed by the government against the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, former first lady Imelda Marcos, and several of their alleged cronies.

The anti-graft court’s Fourth Division granted the government’s motions in two resolutions promulgated this month, copies of which were uploaded on its website only recently.

In its Dec. 11 resolution, the Sandiganbayan partially approved the government's appeal, admitting 15 out of 16 pieces of evidence presented by the latter in Civil Case No. 0010 after ruling these as certified true copies of the original documents.

The Presidential Commission On Good Government (PCGG) filed the case in 1987 against dozens of people, including the late president, former first lady Imelda Marcos, and Imelda’s brother, Alfredo Romualdez, as it sought to recover alleged ill-gotten wealth accumulated by the defendants.

Some of the accused earlier argued that the documents are merely photocopies and that the government failed to lay the basis for their admission as secondary evidence.

Meanwhile, the court in its Dec. 13 resolution also allowed six documents to be included in the records of Civil Case No. 0178.

This other case was filed in 1997 by the PCGG against stockholders of Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (EPTI).

The government accused several personalities linked to the Marcoses of using ill-gotten wealth acquired during the former president’s two-decade reign to purchase shares of EPTI.