Lucio Tan camp welcomes Sandigan ruling

MANILA, Philippines - The lawyer of business tycoon Lucio Tan expressed hope yesterday that the decision of the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division to dismiss the ill-gotten wealth case against his client will put an end to claims that Tan’s fortune was acquired through unlawful means.

“The Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of the ill-gotten wealth complaint against my client, filed by the government, represented by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in 1987, or nearly 25 years of litigation, should put to rest any claim that the assets of Lucio C. Tan have been acquired through illegal means,” Estelito Mendoza, who served as justice secretary and solicitor general during the Marcos administration, said in a statement.

“It is Dr. Tan’s hope that with this decision of the Sandiganbayan, the PCGG will relent in its effort to lay claim to his assets and in restricting the exercise of full rights over those properties,” Mendoza said.

Under Civil Case No. 0005 filed by the PCGG way back in July 17, 1987, the government sought to recover assets of Tan, recently estimated to be worth at least P36 billion, alleging these are part of the hidden wealth of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos.

“PCGG sequestered nearly all of his shares of stock in the major corporations he controlled in 1986. In 1993 and 2006, the Sandiganbayan nullified the writs of sequestration of those shares on the ground that there was not even a prima facie foundation to consider them as ill-gotten wealth,” Mendoza said.

“The nullification of the sequestration of those shares was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1996 and 2007,” Mendoza said.

“With the decision of the Sandiganbayan on the merits of Civil Case No. 0005, the illegality of the limitation by the PCGG of the exercise of the rights of Dr. Tan over his assets through the years has received confirmation,” Mendoza added.

No copy yet

PCGG chairman Andres Bautista, meanwhile, said although they have heard of the reported promulgation of a decision by the Sandiganbayan favorable to Tan, they have not seen a copy of the decision.

“I understand there was a decision promulgated but I have not seen a copy,” Bautista told The STAR.

He, however, said he was not surprised with the ruling.

The PCGG has mostly been met with defeat at the Sandiganbayan on major ill-gotten wealth cases against the Marcoses and the major business associates of the former strongman, namely Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., Tan, and Roberto Benedicto, but had gotten several of these rulings reversed at the Supreme Court.

Disruptive

Mendoza noted that the government’s claim against his client’s assets has especially been disruptive on the merger of Tan’s two controlled banks, the Philippine National Bank and the Allied Banking Corp. (Allied Bank).

“Unfortunately, notwithstanding such explicit resolutions by the courts, firstly, the nullification of the writs of sequestration, the denial of motions for the issuance of writs of attachment and now the dismissal of Civil Case No. 0005, the PCGG continues to limit the exercise of Dr. Tan over his properties, the latest, being its opposition to the merger of Allied Bank and Philippine National Bank simply because the Allied Bank shares of stock of Dr. Tan are among the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Dr. Tan, the subject matter of Civil Case No. 0005,” Mendoza said.

“He trusts that with this decision of the Sandiganbayan, the Central Bank, the PDIC (Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.) and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) will see their way clear to expeditiously give their respective approval to the merger of Allied Bank and PNB. The delay has not only been prejudicial to the stockholders but to the banking system and the economy of the country,” Mendoza said.