Marcos ill-gotten wealth case junked due to prosecution's 'inaction'

The Sandiganbayan dismissed a P5 million ill-gotten wealth case against the late President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., and his wife, Imelda due to the prosecution's "unexplained inaction for decades."

In a 12-page Resolution, the anti-graft court junked the P5 million ill-gotten wealth case under Civil Case 0032 because of the state prosecutors’ unwillingness to pursue the case since 1994.

Civil Case 0032 alleged that the Marcos couple and a certain Fernando Timbol unlawfully acquired vehicles and household appliances which should be returned to the government.

“There is no question that the plaintiff has 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,” the Sandiganbayan added.

Given the delay, 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. 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. —NB, GMA Integrated News