Almost 33 years to the day after the Marcoses and their cronies were driven out the country, the Sandiganbayan ruled that it would render a decision on the P1.052-billion civil suit the Presidential Commission on Good Government filed against the Marcos family and their cronies over alleged ill-gotten wealth during the regime of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
The antigraft court’s Second Division, in a resolution promulgated on Jan. 31, denied the motion for reconsideration filed by respondents Bienvenido Tantoco Jr., Bienvenido Tantoco Sr., the estate of Gliceria Tantoco, and Dominador Santiago.
The court said tthey werenot able to present new arguments to defer the promulgation.
The late Gliceria or Glecy is a close friend of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos and was a member in good standing of the so-called Imelda’s “Blue Ladies.”
The court has yet to schedule the date for the release of its decision.
The Tantocos and Santiago told the Sandiganbayan that the decision on the case involving the P1.052 billion “would cause confusion” and so the court should not decide on it pending resolution on a separate civil case involving the same parties.
But the Sandiganbayan said that the two cases were unrelated, citing a Supreme Court ruling on the issue.
“Since the case has already been submitted for decision as early as April 14, 2010, and that the defendants filed their memorandum on June 7, 2010, while the plaintiff filed its memorandum on August 2, 2010, the court deems it proper to resolve the instant case,” the Sandiganbayan said.
The resolution was written by Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi, Associate Justice Oscar Herrera Jr., the division chairman, and Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna concurred.
