THE Sandiganbayan has thrown out a motion of the Philippine government asking the anti-graft court to declare in default seven defendants in an ill-gotten wealth against the Marcos family for failure to answer the complaint since it was filed 35 years ago.
A defendant who is declared in default will lose the chance to answer or participate in any stage of the proceedings although still entitled to proper service of pleadings and court issuances.
The Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division, citing the government’s failure to notify all seven defendants and furnish them copies of its motion for declaration of default, said the request of the plaintiff Republic of the Philippines must be denied.
The four-page resolution dated Nov. 25, 2022 was penned by Associate Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi, with Associate Justices Lorifel Lacap Pahimna and Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega concurring.
The original complaint in Civil Case No. 0010 was filed way back on Jan. 22, 1987, naming former Tacloban City mayor Alfredo T. Romualdez, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, and 46 other defendants. The former mayor is a brother of Mrs. Marcos.
In a 67-page briefer released in 2019, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) disclosed there were still P2.33 billion in total assets involved in Civil Case No. 0010 including P1.701 billion in real properties and P626.64 million in shares of stocks of various corporations.
However, as of September 2022, the Philippine government said only 34 of the 49 defendants have submitted their answers to the amended/expanded complaint dated Jan. 27, 1987.
Of those who did not file, the Marcos couple was declared in default on Jan. 26, 1989; Hilario Ruiz, Arturo Pacificador, Joselito Manat, Ceres Manat, and Antonio Ezpeleta followed on Sept. 27, 1994; and Alfredo Romualdez on Sept. 27, 2018.
In the motion, the government asked that defendants Anthony P. Lee, Severino dela Cruz, Jose P. Fernandez, Jose Marcelo Jr., Gabriel Llamas, Mariano Balgua, and Jose D. Campos Jr. also be declared in default according to Section 3, Rule 9, of the Revised Rules of Civil Procedure.
But the Sandiganbayan pointed out that Campos had been dropped as a defendant as early as May 4, 1989 by order of the Supreme Court since he is covered by the grant of full immunity to his father Jose Campos Sr. and his family.
The case against defendant Lee was already dismissed on June 16, 1992.
As for the other five names listed in the motion, the court noted that they cannot be held in default due to the petitioner’s failure to comply with the mandatory provisions of the Rules of Civil Procedure that there should be notice to a defending party.
