THE Supreme Court has overturned a 2010 Sandiganbayan ruling that allowed the return to the Marcos family of a 25-hectare property in Cabuyao, Laguna sequestered by the government more than two decades ago.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC’s Second Division granted the appeal of the Presidential Commission on Good Government seeking to keep the so-called Marcos Mansion in the preliminary attachments in the pending civil suit on the ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
The high court ruled the property should not be returned to the Marcos heirs yet pending resolution of Civil Case No. 2 against them.
The tribunal stressed the Sandiganbayan “should have issued an order of preliminary attachment considering that the requisites of the law—including that of Executive Order No. 14—have been substantially met, and that there is factual basis for the issuance of the preliminary attachment.”
The SC held the Sandiganbayan erred in ordering the cancellation of the notice written in the Transfer Certificate of Title of the property that was registered under the names of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Ilocos Norte Gov. Maria Imelda “Imee” Marcos and Irene Marcos-Araneta.
“Procedural rules are not mere technicalities that can be disregarded at whim by the parties or by our courts. Neither should they be applied so mechanically without any appreciation of their purpose and object,” stated the ruling.
“Every part of our law—whether substantive or procedural—is the outcome of reasonable deliberation. As the outcome of human agency, our laws are to be interpreted and applied with meaning and purpose. The day that our courts cease to breathe life to this fundamental principle is the day that we erode the public’s confidence in the ability of the law to render justice,” it said.
Aside from voiding the Sandiganbayan ruing, the high court also ordered the Register of Deeds of Cabuyao, Laguna to re-annotate the notice on the property’s TCT.
Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Jr., Mariano del Castillo, and Jose Catral Mendoza concurred with the ruling.
In the assailed ruling, the Sandiganbayan voided the government takeover of the property due to the PCGG’s failure to include the property in the lawsuit.
The SC issued a temporary restraining order on the Sandiganbayan order in 2011.
The Canlubang Mansion was among several Marcos rest houses turned over by the administration of then President Corazon Aquino under the care of the Department of Tourism in 1988.
In July 1987, the PCGG filed before the Sandiganbayan a complaint for reversion, reconveyance, restitution, accounting, and damage against the Marcoses.
The case was filed as part of efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth acquired by the Marcoses during their incumbency as public officers in active collaboration with their cronies, dummies, and close business associates.