Lucio Tan insists govt lawyers lied to Sandiganbayan

After government called upon Lucio Tan’s estranged brother to testify against him in its 24-year-old case against the tycoon for the forfeiture of allegedly ill-gotten wealth, he has reinstated his earlier objection to the prosecution’s presentation of additional witnesses. In Tan’s May 3 Manifestation, he also said lawyers of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) had lied to the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division when they called on his brother, Mariano Tanenglian, to testify against him. In the forfeiture case, Tan stands to lose in favor of the government about 60 percent of his holdings in several companies including Asia Brewery Inc., Allied Banking Corp., Dominium Realty and Construction Corp. Foremost Farms, Fortune Tobacco Corp, Grandspan Development Corp., Himmel Industries Inc., Silangan Holdings Inc., and Shareholdings Inc. The case was filed in July 1987, with government claiming that former President Ferdinand Marcos was the actual owner of the disputed stockholdings and that Tan simply acted as his dummy. Objection withdrawn, then raised again Tan’s lawyer Estelito P. Mendoza had on March 24 told the anti-graft court that his client was withdrawing his objections to the presentation of Tanenglian – as well as to the presentation of alleged Marcos finance adviser Rolando Gapud, former Monetary Board Secretary Fe Barin, former Marcos social secretary Fe Roa Jimenez, former Education Secretary Jaime Laya, former Senate President Jovito Salonga and Senator Joker Arroyo. In open court, Mendoza said the reason for the withdrawal is simply “to expedite the termination of the case and to preclude further delay." “The implicit [reason] in Plaintiff’s ‘Motion to Adduce Evidence Upon Original Case…’ is that their principal witness was going to be Mr. Mariano Tanenglian and that Mr. Mariano Tanenglian would testify for the plaintiff once allowed by the Court," Mendoza pointed out. Tanenglian is one of the original defendants in the forfeiture case against Tan’s assets along with spouses Ferdinand and Imelda R. Marcos. He has been trying for over a year to convince the government to accept his offer to testify against his own brother in return for immunity but he was previously turned down. At the March 24 hearing, Assistant Solicitor General Mauricia Dinopol told the Sandiganbayan that the PCGG had accepted Tanenglian as witness on March 15, this time against Tan instead of for him. Mendoza said that despite more than a month and a half, the PCGG and OSG still failed to furnish his client with a copy of Tanenglian’s immunity agreement. Tan has also requested for copies of his estranged brother’s sworn statements upon which basis the government had supposedly granted Tanenglian immunity from charges. “Up to now, the plaintiff has not been provided with the documents; indeed, it does not now appear certain that Mr. Mariano Tanenlian has been granted immunity and will testify promptly. Recent developments also show that up to now, plaintiff is uncertain as to whether the other witnesses it had represented to present would be testifying," Mendoza said. —MRT/KBK, GMA News