Sandiganbayan denies plea to reverse junking of P267-M Marcos hidden wealth case

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has denied the appeal of the Philippine government to reverse its earlier dismissal of the P267-million ill-gotten wealth case against former President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, as well as cronies Fe and Ignacio Gimenez, among others.

The court dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) for lack of merit.

“The court is not persuaded. As held by the court in its presently assailed resolution, pieces of evidence that were collected by the PCGG in the course of its investigation of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth remain as private documents and do not become part of public records,” the resolution said.

The Sandiganbayan added that the burden of proof lies in the hands of the Philippine government, through the PCGG, and that it has failed to prove that the subject amount was ill-gotten.

During the trial, the PCGG was only able to present Fe Gimenez’s statement of assets and liabilities as proof that the couple had no financial capacity to purchase the properties listed under their name.