Settlement offer in AFP wealth case raised by P12.5 M

Another one of the accused in the P135.2 million ill-gotten wealth controversy involving former Armed Forces comptroller retired Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot has also offered part of his wealth in exchange for the dropping of charges against them.

Edgardo Yambao has offered to surrender P12.5 million of his assets on top of what his brother-in-law Ligot has offered.

Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, however, said the offer made by Yambao, even when combined with Ligot’s P21 million offer, is "too insignificant." The government is seeking to recover P135.2 million from the accused.

Villa-Ignacio said nothing less than a "complete restitution of civil liability" would satisfy the conclusion of the case.

"That is our minimum requirement, along with the conditions that they serve out even a reduced jail term and be absolutely disqualified from holding public office in the future," Villa-Ignacio said.

Yambao is among the co-accused in the P135.2 million forfeiture case pending before the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division.

Aside from Yambao and Ligot, the other accused include Ligot’s wife Erlinda, their children Paulo, Riza and Miguel; and Ligot’s sister Dr. Miguela Ligot-Paragas.

Cornelio Somido, head of the prosecution panel handling Ligot’s case, confirmed Yambao’s offer.

Somido said Yambao offered P12.5 million worth of assets "on the discussion of settlement."

Yambao earlier filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming the government failed to cite a valid cause of action against him.

The Sandiganbayan, however, overruled Yambao’s arguments and tagged him as Ligot’s "dummy."

The anti-graft court said the prosecution was able to establish the prima facie presumption that Yambao was the holder or depository of illegally acquired properties of Ligot.

The prosecution was also able to prove Yambao is not gainfully employed and lacked the financial capacity to acquire the questioned properties.

Investigation further revealed that Yambao was not able to file even a single Income Tax Return, as per records of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) dated Dec. 17, 2004.

The government earlier rejected Ligot’s offer of P21 million of his assets in exchange of dropping the charges.

"If we accept their offer, we would send a very bad signal to other erring public officials," Villa-Ignacio said.