MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has voided the seizure of 11 private firms by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) for being alleged fronts of President Ferdinand Marcos.
In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Roberto Abad, the SC upheld a Sandiganbayan ruling dismissing a PCGG complaint against the corporations allegedly used to hide ill-gotten Marcos wealth.
“The complaint makes no allegations that respondent corporations have done some acts that have violated a right vested by law in the government,” read the SC ruling.
These corporations are Ternate Development Corp., Fantasia Filipina Resorts, Inc., Monte Sol Development Corp., Ocean Villas Condominium Corp., Olas del Mar Development Corp., Philippine Village Hotel, Philroad Construction Corp., Puerto Azul Beach and Country Club, Inc., Silahis International Hotel and Sulo Dobbs Food Services, Inc.
The SC said the PCGG failed to state a cause of action in placing the 11 firms under sequestration.
The anti-graft court did not commit grave abuse of discretion in ruling against the PCGG, the SC added.
The SC said the Sandiganbayan was correct in holding that impleading corporations alleged to have been capitalized with ill-gotten wealth is unnecessary since judgment may be rendered against the individual defendants.
They can be divested of their shares of stock, the SC added.
The SC said the sequestration orders against the corporations were issued in violation of the Constitution, which requires clear initial findings that the properties are ill-gotten wealth.
Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Portugal Perez and Jose Catral Mendoza concurred with the ruling.
The SC also ruled that the PCGG’s sequestration orders against Philippine Village, Philroad and Silahis were void because these were signed by only one commissioner.
The PCGG Rules and Regulations require the signatures of at least two commissioners on a sequestration order, the SC added.
However, the SC said the lifting of the sequestration orders against the corporations will not affect the prosecution of the main case.
“The effect of the lifting of the sequestration simply means that the government may not act as conservator or may not exercise administrative or housekeeping powers over the corporations. Historically, such option has not fared well,” read the SC ruling.
Court records show that the PCGG issued sequestration orders against the assets, records, and documents of several corporations owned by alleged Marcos associates identified as Modesto Enriquez, Trinidad Diaz-Enriquez, Rebecco Panlilio, Erlinda Enriquez-Panlilio, Leandro Enriquez, Don Ferry, Roman Cruz Jr., and Gregorio Castillo, collectively the Enriquez group.
On July 23, 1987, the PCGG formally filed a complaint with the Sandiganbayan against the Marcoses and the Enriquez group seeking the recovery of all their ill-gotten wealth.
In October 1991, the government moved for the admission of an amended complaint to implead respondent corporations as defendants, alleging that the corporations were beneficially owned or controlled by the individual respondents and that they used them as fronts to amass ill-gotten wealth.
However, on Feb. 7, 2002, the Sandiganbayan granted the motions filed by the respondent corporations to dismiss the complaint on grounds that impleading the corporations as defendants was unnecessary.
The anti-graft court also lifted the sequestration orders against the corporations, prompting the government to elevate the case to the SC.