Sandiganbayan: Gov’t, media company legal owners of beachfront property in Batangas

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has declared the government and a media company as the owners of a beachfront resort property in Batangas that was sold in 1991 for P700,000.

The property is said to be a part of the alleged ill-gotten wealth of former ambassador Benjamin Romualdez, the brother of former first lady Imelda Marcos.

The Sandiganbayan resolution promulgated April 2 ruled that the government and the Philippine Journalist Inc. (PJI) are “the legal owners of the PJI properties located in Bagalangit, Mabini, Batangas.

The decision was handed down following a Supreme Court resolution in 2013 declaring the sale of the property “null and void” since the transaction was not approved by the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Sandiganbayan.

The PCGG sequestered the property in 1986.

To reclaim the property, however, a P40-million refund must be given to its buyer, Ramon Quisumbing, for the developments to property, which has since become a popular diving destination.

The resolution said that Quisumbing is “a builder in good faith” who was unaware of the “flaw in his acquisition of the PJI Properties.”

“Quisumbing was ignorant of any defect or flaw in his acquisition of the PJI Properties. In this sense, he was a builder in good faith with respect to any structure, building or improvement he may have built or introduced on the PJI Properties during that period,” the resolution stated.

The court also ordered former PJI board members Jaime Cura, Johnny Araneta, Angel Sepidoza, and Renato Paras to “jointly and severally pay plaintiff PJI the amount of [P500,000] in actual and compensatory damages. /ee