Sandigan affirms dismissal of Tan case

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan affirmed yesterday the dismissal of the 25-year-old ill-gotten wealth case against businessman Lucio Tan.

In affirming its decision, the anti-graft court junked an appeal filed by the government questioning the dismissal of Tan’s case.

The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division said the “issues raised by the Republic in its Motion for Reconsideration…had been dealt with in the assailed Decision and we reiterate our pronouncement and discussion therein.”

“There is nothing in the instant motions which raises substantial new matters which would warrant the reversal of or modification of the assailed Decision,” it added.

The forfeiture charge against Tan was filed in 1987. It involved his shares in several corporations like Fortune Tobacco Corp., Himmel Industries Inc., Foremost Farms Inc., Asia Brewery Inc., Grandspan Development Corp, Silangan Holdings Inc. and Dominium Realty and Construction Corp.

In dropping the case, the anti-graft court said there is neither proof that any of Tan’s companies benefited from the supposed favors extended by the Marcos government nor evidence that showed any of those special favors were actually implemented.

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the PCGG appealed the ruling but failed to convince the anti-graft court to reverse its decision.

The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division, composed of Associate Justice Roland Jurado as chairman, and Associate Justices Teresita Diaz-Baldos and Alex Quiroz as members, said the prosecution failed to prove its case.

In its ruling last June, the anti-graft court stated that the OSG and the PCGG, in the more than two decades of the trial, failed to prove its allegations.

The Sandiganbayan also denied the claims of both parties for payment of damages and legal expenses amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos.