The Sandiganbayan has denied the government's appeal for the reversal of the junking of a P1-billion civil case against the late former President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife Imelda, and their alleged dummies—Rustan Commercial Corp. founders Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. and Gliceria Tantoco.
In its motion for reconsideration, the Presidential Commission on Good Government, said that “the defendants admitted material allegations pertaining to the ill-gotten nature of Tourist Duty Free Shops assets.”
The PCGG also said that the Tantocos “indeed acted as dummies and agents of the Marcoses in acquiring ill-gotten wealth.”
The anti-graft court's Second Division, saying that the PCGG failed to present new arguments, denied the appeal for “lack of merit.”
”The arguments raised therein have already been judiciously passed upon and properly considered by the court in the assailed decision which states that the documentary and testimonial evidence presented by the plaintiff are insufficient to prove the allegations in the expanded complaint," the court said in a resolution dated Nov. 20.
During the trial of the case, the Tantocos denied admitting the PCGG's “material allegations” regarding the ill-gotten nature of the TDFS assets.
They also said the government’s “conditionally admitted documentary exhibits and inconsequential witness testimonies” are insufficient.
In denying the government's appeal for the reversal of the junking of a P1-billion civil case against the Marcoses and the Tantocos, the Sandiganbayan said the Supreme Court rulings show that motions for reconsideration should be denied when they only present rehashed issues previously put forward.