Govt appeals return of Cabuyao mansion to Marcoses

The government has asked the Sandiganbayan to reconsider its January 11, 2010 resolution returning the 25-hectare "Canlubang Mansion" to the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. In a 29-page motion for reconsideration, the Office of the Solicitor General said the state has the right to claim the property since it forms part of the Marcos' unexplained wealth. It also insisted that the property was covered by the Third Amended Complaint in Civil Case No. 0002 contrary to the court’s pronouncement that the government overlooked its inclusion in the list of assets sought for recovery attached to the records as ‘Annex A.’ “The allegations… bear the qualifying words ‘include but are not limited to’ to those enumerated. Conversely, the real property sought to be recovered in the present action are not limited to the property specifically described in the complaint and enumerated in the list of assets and other property attached as ‘Annex A’ thereof," the government lawyers said. The property, located in Cabuyao, Laguna, was listed under the names of Marcos' children: former Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos, Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., and Irene Marcos-Araneta. In its ruling, the graft court nullified government takeover of the mansion and the land it is standing on, saying the Presidential Commission on Good Government’s (PCGG) failure to specifically include the property in the lawsuit means it was never covered from the very beginning. Government lawyers, however, said even the registration of the land and the house in the names of the three Marcos children was questionable under the law. They noted that based on records the Canlubang Mansion was placed under the names of the Marcos children on November 20, 1978, when all three were still not legally allowed to own it. “During that time… they were still minors who had no legitimate source of income and the former President Marcos, a public officer, is prohibited under the Anti-Graft and Corruption Law and the Constitution from acquiring said property. Obviously, such registration of the property in the names of the defendants Marcos children was to conceal the true ownership," they said. - KBK, GMANews.TV