The Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA) on Friday denounced the Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of the last remaining forfeiture case against the Marcos family, involving an estimated ₱50 billion in alleged ill-gotten wealth.
The Sandiganbayan Special Division, in a June 2 ruling, junked the case filed in 1991 after prosecutors admitted they would no longer present additional evidence, citing “inordinate delay” in the proceedings.
“This is the final nail in the coffin of the government’s effort to recover the Marcoses’ plunder,” said CARMMA spokesperson Kris Lacaba.
“Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has accomplished what he set out to do when he ran for president — to recoup his family’s ill-gotten wealth sequestered by the government and tied in litigation.”
Lacaba accused the president of consolidating power atop “the government’s massive corruption pyramid,” warning that the dismissal emboldens the Marcoses to reclaim assets amassed during the dictatorship.
“They may think they’ve come full circle in reclaiming their lucre,” Lacaba said. “But they forget that an enraged Filipino people can also come full circle in ousting this kleptocratic clique from power.”
The forfeiture case, lodged by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) more than three decades ago, was the last pending litigation in the state’s long-running bid to recover wealth allegedly amassed through cronyism and corruption under Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s regime. # (ZIA LUNA)
