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Sandigan OKs Imelda bid for daily hearings on graft cases


The Sandiganbayan granted on Friday former First Lady Imelda Marcos’s petition to conduct marathon hearings on her 10 graft cases still pending before the antigraft court. Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division chair Associate Justice Ma. Cristina Cortez-Estrada announced in open court that daily hearings will be held on the Marcos cases starting January 21 next year until proceedings are terminated. Marcos’s lawyer Benjamin Santos accepted this hearing schedule for the former First Lady’s graft cases. On September 17, defense lawyers asked the antigraft court to expedite hearings on Marcos’s graft cases, citing the ailments afflicting the 78-year-old widow of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos was charged in 1991 of creating four private foundations in Switzerland and holding financial interests in private enterprises while she was a member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa from 1978 to 1984. The deposits in the said Swiss foundations totalling $684 million have been declared "ill-gotten" in 2003 and forfeited by the courts in favor of the government. Despite the adverse ruling on the civil aspect of the cases, Santos said they are confident that the former First Lady will be cleared of all charges. “Of course, we are confident of acquittal. She is innocent," Santos said. - GMANews.TV

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