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By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
THE Supreme Court on Tuesday junked with
finality the appeal of the government asking the court to reconsider
its previous decision which declared as null and void the writs of
sequestration issued by the Philippine Commission on Good Government
(PCGG) over the shares of stock of Lucio C. Tan in Allied Banking
Corp., Foremost Farms Inc., Fortune Tobacco Corp. and Shareholdings
Inc.
The High Court affirmed the decision of the
Sandiganbayan which found no sufficient evidence to warrant the
sequestration of the shares of stock of Tan on grounds that these
were ill-gotten wealth.
In a one-page resolution dated January 21 that
was promulgated on Tuesday, the High Court “denied with
finality” the motion for reconsideration filed by the PCGG and the
Office of the Solicitor General since no new arguments were
presented to warrant the reversal of their earlier ruling.
Chief Justice Reynato Puno and Associate Justice
Adolfo Azcuna inhibited themselves from the ruling.
In December 7 last year, the High Court issued
19-page decision favoring Tan that stated “an order of
sequestration may only issue upon a showing ‘of a prima facie
case’ that the properties are ill-gotten wealth under Executive
Orders Nos. 1 and 2.”
The five-man tribunal found no error in the
ruling made by the Sandiganbayan and argued that the PCGG lacks
evidence to show that the shares of stock in question belong to the
government.
It also declared as devoid of merit the
contention of the PCGG that Tan took undue advantage of his
relationship or connection with former President Ferdinand Marcos or
his family and associates.
It stressed that the PCGG failed to show how the
questioned properties were acquired or whether Marcos intervened in
their acquisition.
It also found no factual basis for the
sequestration of the stocks and thus denied the PCGG’s petition
assailing the Sandiganbayan’s decision.
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