Wednesday, August 05, 2009 [ manilatimes.net ]
THE Sandiganbayan 1st Division was asked by government lawyers to rule immediately on the issue of ownership involving the18.4-hectare prime property in Pasig City that is locked in a four-way dispute between the government, the Marcos family, human rights victims and private land developers.
The six-page motion to resolve filed on July 31, by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) stressed that the government motion asking for summary judgment in Civil Case nos. 0093 and 0147 has been pending in court for over 13 years.
A motion for summary judgment was originally filed on March 20, 1996, seeking an immediate ruling on the question of ownership based on the evidence submitted on record primarily the affidavits of businessman Jose Yao Campos and Marcos financial consultant Rolando Gapud.
“The filing of this motion does not intend to put pressure on the Honorable Court. The Republic is just impelled to do so considering that the resolution of the motion for summary judgment would determine the progress of the case,” the motion said.
The affidavit of Gapud states how former President Ferdinand Marcos used public funds for his own benefit while Campos admitted that he acted as a dummy for Marcos in several business ventures, including the acquisition of the disputed Pasig property and the Independent Realty Corp. Building, which now houses the offices of the PCGG.
PCGG took over the Pasig property and the IRC Building in 1986 after Campos surrendered them to the government in exchange for immunity from suit. The Pasig property, bordered on three sides by Ortigas, Meralco and Doña Julia Vargas Avenues, is now party occupied by Metrowalk, a high-end shopping, dining and recreation complex.
The OSG noted that this is the fourth time that the government has asked for the graft court’s ruling after separate motions to resolve filed on August 10, 2001; July 11, 2003; and February 1, 2005.
The antigraft court has already junked three other claims on the Pasig property including the one by Greenhills Properties Inc. (GPI), the motions for intervention filed by Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and that of the 9,000 human rights victims represented by former party-list Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, movie director Joel Lamangan and group organizers Priscila Mijares and Hilda Narciso.
-- Jomar Canlas
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