Sandigan affirms dismissal of forfeiture case vs late Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has upheld its earlier decision dismissing another forfeiture case filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his widow Imelda and their cronies.

The PCGG on July 28, 1987 sought to recover, in favor of the government, properties and financial assets suspected to have been illegally acquired by the Marcoses through dummies and business associates during the martial law era.

In a five-page resolution promulgated on Aug. 11, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division said the PCGG failed to raise new meritorious arguments in its motion for reconsideration that would warrant a reversal of the Sandiganbayan’s Feb. 21 decision.

“An examination of the records of the case reveals that the arguments raised by the plaintiff in the present motion are the very same issues already discussed and passed upon by the Court in the assailed Decision,” the Fifth Division’s resolution read.

“For failure of the plaintiff to convince the Court of the cogency of their position and finding no new matters or persuasive grounds to merit a reconsideration of its earlier Decision, the Court finds no convincing reason to depart from it,” it added.

Defendants in civil case No. 0024 include businessmen Peter Sabido, Luis Yulo, Roberto Benedicto and Nicolas Dehesa as well as former Development Bank of the Philippines executives Jose Tengco Jr., Rafael Sison, Cesar Zalamea and Don Ferry.

The Philippine Integrated Meat Corp., Pimeco Marketing Corp., Lianga Bay Logging Co. Inc. and Yulo King Ranch are also parties to the case.

The PCGG alleged that the Marcoses used Sabido, Yulo and other defendants as dummies for the acquisition of huge loans from 1973 to