Palace hails Sandigan ruling vs Marcoses, crony

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang lauded yesterday the Sandiganbayan ruling ordering the Marcoses and the family of deceased crony Alfonso Lim Sr. to return all properties claimed by the government.

The judgment was a significant win for the Filipino people in the long-term effort to recover assets that had been illegally acquired during the dictatorship by known cronies of President Ferdinand Marcos, according to Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.   

“The PCGG (Presidential Commission on Good Government) will implement the decision once it attains finality,” he said.

Hundreds of hectares of land that Lim allegedly acquired through illegal timber concessions during the time of Marcos must be returned to the government, the  Sandiganbayan Special Second Division has ruled.

The PCGG filed the civil case against Lim in 1991.

A copy of the 35-page decision, dated Dec. 14, 2015, was made available to media yesterday.

The properties to be returned to the government include parcels of land located in the provinces of Batangas, Rizal, Cagayan and Tagaytay City.

Lim died in 1995 and his estate is now being managed by administrator Ruthie Lim-Santiago.

Lim was accused of conspiring with Marcos and former first lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos to obtain timber concessions.

The PCGG said Lim had some 533,880 hectares of land under the name of seven corporations, exceeding the limit of 100,000 hectares allowed under the 1973 Constitution.

The Sandiganbayan directed Alfonso Lim Sr. to return to government “all funds and properties acquired through the cancelled TLA,” referring to the timber license agreements he was able to secure.

However, the anti-graft court  denied the PCGG’s claim of entitlement to civil damages and made no mention of any liability on the part of the Marcos heirs.

“The Republic has sufficiently proven that defendant Alfonso Lim Sr. had indeed acquired Timber License Agreements far in excess of that allowed by the 1973 Constitution… It is only inevitable that the action for reconveyance and reversion be granted,” read the Sandiganbayan  decision.

“As regards to the Marcoses, we take note of the General Agreement and the Supplemental Agreement, both dated 28 December 1993, the latter dated 21 July 1994 of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to PCGG Chairman Magtanggol Gunigundo and the authority conferred by then President Fidel Ramos to the PCGG chairman relative to the compromise settlements with Imelda Marcos and/or the children of the late Ferdinand Marcos.” – Aurea Calica, Michael Punongbayan