PCGG drops case after Marcos associate waives right to seized assets

A case against an associate of the late president Ferdinand Marcos has been dropped after he waived all rights and interests to ill-gotten assets — including two small planes — seized by the government. The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) — a body tasked to recover the Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth — has informed the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division last May 28 that it will no longer pursue Civil Case No. 0030 against Alfonso V. Lim. On February 19, Lim submitted a waiver and a quitclaim, indicating that he has waived and quit "all rights, interests, participations or claims" to the assets seized by the PCGG in 1987 and listed in the ‘annex A’ of the complaint. The Sandiganbayan — the Philippines’ anti-graft court — was also informed on May 20 that Lim, through his administratrix Ruthie Lim-Santiago, has waived its rights to disputed assets in the government’s favor. In exchange for the waiver, Lim’s estate sought the case’s dismissal which would "spare them from additional litigation expenses and inconvenience that a prolonged hearing." In a case filed on July 30, 1987, the Lims were named co-defendants together with the late president Ferdinand Marcos, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos and Teodoro Q. Peña, who served as the natural resources minister. According to the case, the properties considered ill-gotten and are being claimed by the State include:

• 16 parcels of land in Rizal, Batangas, Tagaytay City, Cagayan and in Paco, Manila;
• Shares of stocks in Taggat Industries Inc., Pamplona Redwood Veneer Inc., Sierra Madre Wood Industries Inc., Veterans Woodworks Inc., Southern Plywood Corp. and Western Cagayan Lumber;
• A sea vessel owned by Sierra Madre, machineries, vehicles, office equipment and furniture;
• A six-seater Cessna Centurion II registered as RPC-208 and a 10-seater Cessna Golden Eagle II registered as RPC-333;
• Cash assets, receivables, inventories and investments by Taggat and Pamplona Redwood
• Bank accounts of Pamplona Redwood with Consolidated Bank and Trust Co. and Equitable Banking Corp.; and Taggat with Consolidated Bank, PNB, Equitable, Philippine Banking Corp. and Allied Bank; and
• Frozen bank accounts and assets or Alfonso Lim Sr. and Jr. and Lawrence Lim.