Filtered By: Topstories
News

PCGG, SolGen ask Sandigan to enforce ruling vs Imelda Marcos


Six months after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division ordered Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Romualdez Marcos to return P10 million that her late husband, strongman Ferdinand Marcos, supposedly transferred in secret from the National Food Authority to a private account, the Presidential Commission on Good Government and the Office of the Solicitor General are now asking the graft to enforce its decision. Solicitor General Jose Anselmo I. Cadiz and PCGG Commissioner Gerard A. Mosquera noted that the verdict has become executory since the former first lady has not filed a motion for reconsideration even after a lapse of almost six months since the Sandiganbayan handed down its decision on Sept. 9, 2010. “Records reveal that Imelda R. Marcos, as defendant and as legal representative of her spouse, co-defendant Ferdinand E. Marcos did not file a motion for reconsideration or an appeal of the decision. The case is now ripe for execution," according to the Solicitor General’s Office and the PCGG. The graft court ruled that former President Ferdinand E. Marcos pocketed P10 million that was withdrawn from the NFA’s account in Philippines National Bank (PNB) and transferred to a private account at Security Bank on July 27, 1983. It was alleged that the former President personally ordered the transfer. Despite the absence of a paper trail on the whereabouts of the money, the testimony of former NFA Administrator Jesus Tanchanco alone was enough to establish the fraudulent transaction, the Sandiganbayan said. PNB vice president Antonio Alcaras and sales and service head Ruby Ocampo both testified that there was nothing on their books about the fund transfer since the bank maintains records for only 10 years. Tanchangco was dropped as a defendant in the case after an immunity deal with the government in 1988. He admitted in his affidavit that he allowed the P10 million to be disbursed from the NFA-PNB account on instructions by phone from then President Marcos. He said it was NFA comptroller Cesar A. Aquino made the withdrawal at his directive and delivered the money ‘in three big bags’ to then Security Bank president Rolando Gapud. Apart from the P10 million reimbursement, the graft court also ordered Imelda to pay 27 years of interest on the P10 million with additional penalties of P1 million in moral damages, P500,000 in exemplary damages, P250,000 in nominal damages, and P200,000 in attorney’s fees, as well as the costs incurred in the litigation. PCGG-OSG lawyers said the litigation cost, as stated in the 1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure, amounts to P200,000. — VS, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT