Court junks forfeiture case vs Bejo Romualdez

The Sandiganbayan Centennial Building in Quezon City. (INQUIRER.net file photo)

The Sandiganbayan has dismissed a long-pending forfeiture case against a brother of former first lady Imelda Marcos, in connection with the sale of 42 parcels of land in various parts of the country which the government had sought to recover in 1996 after their sequestration a decade earlier.

In a 14-page resolution, the court’s Third Division dismissed Civil Case No. 0167 filed on March 6, 1996 by the government, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), against Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez and other defendants—on the grounds that the continuing pendency of the case violated their constitutional right to its speedy disposition.

Also named defendants were Romualdez’s wife, Agnes, and “corporate defendants” Romson Realty Inc., Robinsons Land Corp., R & S Transport Inc., Fidelity Management Inc. and Dio Island Resort Inc.

‘Unlawfully acquired’

On sequestering the 42 properties in 1986, the PCGG said Romualdez had “unlawfully acquired” these assets during the regime of his brother-in-law, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father of the current President.

Romualdez had served the first Marcos administration in various capacities and was elected Tacloban City mayor for three terms after the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.

The government filed the forfeiture case after it found that Romson had sold the 42 parcels of land under a consolidated title to Robinsons, without a notice of lis pendens—or a notice that the properties had a pending suit.

Over the years Romualdez had sought to have the case dismissed, appealing to the Supreme Court at one point to stop the case before the Sandiganbayan.He then cited the government’s “failure to prosecute” the case, noting how it “has been dragging on.”

In one of his pleadings before the antigraft court, he said he “has suffered long enough considering that the case has yet to reach the pretrial stage even after almost 30 years.”

‘Sheer length of time’

Ruling in favor of the defendants, the Sandiganbayan noted that the government had filed three amended petitions in the case, with the second (dated May 2, 2012) coming “16 years” after the forfeiture case was first filed.

“We are at a loss as to why it took the petitioner 16 years to file a supplemental petition; another four years to file its amended supplemental petition; and an additional four years to file its second amended supplemental petition,” read the resolution penned by Associate Justice Ronald Moreno.

“The lapse of almost 30 years puts in question the ability of Romualdez to adequately prepare for the case, more so when we take into account that he is almost a nonagenarian,” the ruling added.

“While we are aware that delay is not determined through mere mathematical reckoning but through the examination of the facts and circumstances surrounding each case, the sheer length of time this case has been dragging on, coupled by the petitioner’s failure to fully comply with our resolutions, rendered the delay inordinate, vexatious, … [thus] warranting the dismissal of the case,” the court added.

Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, the division chair, and Associate Justice Bernelito Fernandez, concurred in the decision.

Romualdez and his wife were also respondents in a 1987 ill-gotten wealth case filed by the PCGG, which was eventually dismissed in August 2016 after the Sandiganbayan granted their demurrers to evidence.

The 1987 case involved 67 parcels of land, along with shares of stock and other assets.

—WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH INQ

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