The Sandiganbayan has tossed out a civil case against a brother of former First Lady Imelda Marcos over the forfeiture of his alleged ill-gotten wealth, including investments and real estate properties supposedly amassed during the President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. era.
In a resolution dated June 23, the Sandigan Third Division dismissed the civil case against Alfredo Romualdez, citing inordinate delays on the part of the petitioner, the Republic of the Philippines.
The anti-graft court said the petitioner admitted its failure to file full compliance to avoid the dismissal of the case as it claimed that the “oversight was solely due to voluminous workload consisting of hearings and preparation of pleading in other equally important cases.”
The court also said it dismissed the case against Romualdez in 1996 for violating respondent’s constitutional right to speedy disposition of cases against him.
“In the present case, we find that the petitioner has failed to prosecute its action for an unreasonable length of time, and, has failed to comply with the orders of this court,” the court said in the resolution penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno, with the concurrence of Division chairperson and Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Bernelito Fernandez.
The Sandigan also noted that complainant Presidential Commission on Good Government was still awaiting response from the National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Immigration, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bureau of Internal Revenue regarding information about respondents Storton Investments and Halston Investments.
“It thus baffles us why the petitioner sought to implead Storton and Halston only in 2020 when it was already aware as early as 2012 that Romualdez purportedly purchased all the shares in Storton and Halston in 1979 and 1981, respectively,” the court said.
In a comment filed before the court, Romualdez underscored that the case had been dragging on for almost three decades. He also pointed out that he is almost 90 years old.
Respondent Robinson’s Land Corp. echoed the “inordinate delays” in the case, and emphasized that the case has not even reached the pre-trial stage despite having been pending for almost 27 years.
The case was originally filed against respondent Romson Realty, Inc., with 42 of its properties listed in the original petition, which were then transferred to RLC in 2006 without the approval of petitioner.
The court noted that because of the transfer, the petitioner had to file a supplemental petition in 2012 to include RLC in the case as an additional respondent.
The court emphasized that since the filing, the petition had already undergone three amendments which were all initiated by petitioner Republic.
“Its flimsy excuses of voluminous workload and the delayed response of several government agencies to the PCGG to justify its failure to fully comply with this court’s resolutions fail to convince us,” the court said.