THE Court of Appeals junked moves by the Marcos family to stop a Makati court from hearing the complaint filed by martial law victims seeking to enforce the final judgment of a US court awarding them $2 billion in damages.
The CA’s Special 13th Division through Associate Justice Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla denied the motion filed by the Marcoses seeking an extension to file a petition for certiorari to question the May 20, 2016 and Aug. 3, 2016 orders of Makati RTC Branch 134 Presiding Judge Elpidio Calis denying their motion to dismiss the complaint.
In its resolution, the appellate court rejected the Marcos family’s argument that they needed more time to file an appeal because of other urgent professional work, including the preparation for the petitions filed before the Supreme Court questioning the burial of the strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
In ruling against the Marcoses, the appellate court noted that the Supreme Court en banc has amended the Rules of Court to delete the clause that allowed for an extension to file a petition for certiorari for compelling reasons.
“As it stands now, parties are only given an non-extendible 60-day period from notice of judgment or from notice of denial of their motion for reconsideration within which to file a petition for certiorari,” the CA ruled.
While the amendment did not prohibit the filing of a motion, the CA said it saw no reason to relax the rules in this case.
The appellate court pointed out that the heavy workload of the petitioners’ counsel is often “self-serving and as such, is hardly a compelling meritorious reason to deviate from the 60-day rule.”
Associate Justices Samuel Gaerlan and Jhosep Lopez concurred with the ruling.
The case arose from the complaint filed by Priscilla Mijares, Loretta Ann Rosales, Hilda Narciso Sr., Mariani Dimaranan and Joel Lamangan in their behalf and on behalf of the class plaintiffs in US case, Class Action No. MDL 840.
The US court on Feb. 3, 1995 rendered a final judgment awarding a total of $1.964 billion in damages to human rights victims during the Marcos administration, a decision that was affirmed by the US Court of Appeals on Dec. 17, 1996.
However, under Rule 38 Section 48 of the Rules of Court, such a foreign judgment must be recognized and enforced in the Philippines through a case filed with Philippine courts.