The Sandiganbayan has upheld its December 2019 decision dismissing a P200 billion forfeiture case against the family of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for lack of evidence.
In a July 22 decision on Civil Case 0002, the court said the government failed to prove that the four properties under the Marcos family’s control — the Currimao beach house; the house in Pandacan, Manila; the Batac Museum; and the Batac Guesthouse — were illegally acquired.
“The plaintiff’s (Presidential Commission on Good Government) motion for reconsideration dated Dec. 19, 2019, insofar as the properties that allegedly have not yet been recovered by the government are concerned, is denied for its failure to prove its claims through a preponderance of evidence,” read the decision of the anti-graft court’s Fourth Division.
Fourth Division chairperson Alex Quiroz penned the 12-page decision, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega and Maryann Corpus-Mañalac.
According to the complaint, Civil Case No. 0002 stemmed from the “misappropriation and theft of public funds, plunder of the nation’s wealth, extortion, blackmail, bribery, embezzlement and other acts of corruption.”
The PCGG said the Marcos family should return their alleged ill-gotten wealth, which included P976 million worth of deposits at the Security Bank and Trust Company and P711 million at the Traders Royal Bank.