MANILA – The Sandiganbayan has junked a P5-million ill-gotten wealth case filed against the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and wife Imelda.
In a 12-page Resolution, the anti-graft court junked Civil Case 0032 because of the state prosecutors’ “unexplained inaction for decades.”
Based on the complaint, the Marcos couple and a certain Fernando Timbol allegedly unlawfully acquired vehicles and household appliances which should be returned to the government.
“There is no question that the plaintiff failed to prosecute the case for an unreasonable length of time. As it is, the present complaint has clogged the docket of the Court for so long, and it can no longer be countenanced,” the Sandiganbayan said.
“As the law and jurisprudence dictate, the plaintiff’s unexplained inaction for decades warrants the dismissal of the complaint against defendant Spouses Marcos,” it added.
Due to inactivity since 1994, the Sandiganbayan said that the dismissal of the ill-gotten wealth case against the Marcos couple for actual, moral, temperate, nominal, and exemplary damages and attorney’s fees is legal.
“As borne by the records, the present complaint against defendant Spouses Marcos was neglected and forgotten, left pending and unresolved in the Court’s docket,” Sandiganbayan said.
“Wherefore, the foregoing considered, the present complaint as against defendant spouses Marcos is hereby dismissed. Accordingly, the present case is deemed disposed of in its entirety,” it added./PN
