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By Jomar Canlas
Tycoon Lucio Tan’s lawyer said
on Wednesday that it was possible his client sought help from the
late President Ferdinand Marcos. But this, he said does not mean,
Marcos was co-owner of Tan’s firms.
Atty. Estelito Mendoza made the
statement to The Manila Times after he formally presented his
opposition to letting Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong”
Marcos testify before the Sandiganbayan against Tan.
Mendoza asked the Sandi-ganbayan
to dismiss the Marcoses’ claim to Tan’s assets.
So, the young Marcos was not able
to testify.
“Anybody, including business
people go to Mr. Marcos. It is the right of every citizen to seek
help for redress of grievances, for assistance,” Mendoza told The
Times.
Mendoza said that there is
nothing wrong if one asked help from the late President.
Mendoza said the young Marcos
should not be allowed to testify since there is no proof that the
wealth his family is claiming is ill-gotten.
He argued that any claim against
an opponent in a case like this must be brought before a regional
trial court and not with the Sandiganbayan.
“Para maging ill gotten wealth
dapat ang pera ay pera ng gobyerno at kung hindi pera ng gobyerno
hindi dito dapat pag-usapan iyon, Mendoza said. [For something to be
ill-gotten wealth, it should be government money and if it is not
government money then the matter should not be discussed here.]”
The Tan lawyer denied any
knowledge that there is now a “sweetheart deal” between the
government and the Marcoses to wrest Tan’s assets from him.
The Presidential Commission on
Good Government (PCGG) is running after the shares of stocks of Tan
with Shareholdings Inc., which is alleged to be a partnership of
Marcos and Tan to raise funds for the present businesses of the
taipan—including Asia Brewery, Fortune Tobacco and Allied Bank.
However, the PCGG immediately
pointed out that they are running after 60-percent of the
Shareholdings shares, which were or are owned not by Tan but by the
Marcoses.
Atty. Catalino Generillo of the
PCGG insisted that the young Marcos should be allowed to testify
since there is no need to prove if the wealth is ill-gotten, for
which the precedent is the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case
of PLDT v. Sandiganbayan.
Sandiganbayan Justice Cristina
Cortez-Estrada, chairperson of the 5th Division, has set the next
hearing on August 20. She will then, she ruled, allow the Ilocos
lawmaker to testify—unless there will be objections from the other
lawyers and these objections would then have to heard and ruled on.
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