Court junks P51-B suit vs Marcoses

MANILA, Philippines - As the government prepared for month-long activities commemorating the 1986 people power revolt, the Sandiganbayan junked yesterday a P51-billion damage suit filed 25 years ago against deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his widow Imelda, two other former officials, and several others accused of dollar salting.

In a 69-page decision, the anti-graft court’s Special Second Division cleared the Marcos couple, former trade minister Roberto Ongpin, former military chief Fabian Ver, and several other government and private individuals of involvement in the operations of the so-called “Binondo Central Bank,” which sold US dollars in the black market from 1984 to 1986.

The Sandiganbayan, in a ruling penned by Associate Justice Samuel Martires, cited the “absence of evidence” and said the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) failed to prove that the Marcoses and their co-accused had enriched themselves by stealing government money.

The case, filed on July 23, 1987, held that the Marcoses and their officials conspired with private individuals – including eight Chinese businessmen who acted as operators, financiers, couriers and agents – in managing and operating the Binondo Central Bank.

The operation allegedly involved the buying of US dollars in the black market and the direct shipment of dollar stocks to Hong Kong where they were sold and traded at higher prices without prior clearance and authority from the Central Bank of the Philippines and without payment of fees, charges, and taxes to the government.

 The complaint accused the respondents of “misappropriation and theft of public funds, plunder of the nation’s wealth, extortion, blackmail, bribery, embezzlement and other acts of corruption, betrayal of public trust, and brazen abuse of power, at the expense and to the grave and irreparable damage of plaintiff and the Filipino people.”

Based on the case, Ongpin and Vinnie James Yu, assistant general manager of the Marcos-era National Development Authority, conspired with the Marcoses for the creation of joint venture Triad Asia Limited (TAL) with Triad Holding Corp. (THL).

The joint venture was entitled to government equity of $500,000 but Ongpin allegedly infused $10,640,000 instead, using National Development Corp. (NDC) and Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (PASAR) resources.

The Chinese businessmen linked to the case said they were forced to invest in the government’s Task Force Luntian whose purported objective was to tap market forces to stabilize the peso.

They said they were arrested, threatened, coerced and confined in a military camp by civilian and military agents of the Marcos government, forcing them to pool their money for the scheme.

In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan said that those accused of being organizers, partners, capitalists and couriers of the Binondo Central Bank were not even involved or had nothing to do with the joint venture agreement with THC or TAL.

“In fact, there is not a single allegation in the complaint as regards the participation of defendant Fabian Ver in the investment made by the Philippine government with Triad Asia Ltd.,” the decision read.

“How the defendants Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos, Fabian Ver, Roberto Ongpin and Vinnie James Yu ‘abused their power to enrich themselves’ by reason of the joint venture with Triad Holding Corp., the complaint does not show,” the anti-graft court said.

“The same absence of allegation exists on how defendants Ongpin, Ver, Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos, and Arturo Pacificador earned and/or acquired ill-gotten wealth from the management and operations of the Binondo Central Bank, as well as the amount of money that they earned, and the nature and description of the properties that they acquired from their alleged earnings in the operations of the Binondo Central Bank,” the decision read.

Martires, in concurring with Sandiganbayan Special Second Division Chair Teresita Diaz-Baldos and Associate Justice Napoleon Inoturan, said the money invested by the government in the joint venture with THC was actually fully recovered by the NDC in 1986 and in 1989 with interest and cost of arbitration.

“A mere allegation is not enough. It must be supported by proof, otherwise it will just remain a story,” the magistrates said, referring to OSG’s and PCGG’s allegations.

“Indeed, plaintiff Republic failed to present evidence to prove its claims,” the Sandiganbayan said.

Others cleared were Raffy Chua, Wilson Chua, Guy Siu Sim, Arturo Pacificador, Sally See, Go Pok, Sio Lim, Balbino Diego, Peter Uy, Edna Camcam, Jimmy Chua, Benito Penalosa and Catalino Coo.

The anti-graft court also junked the cases against Wyrlo Ver, Faida Ver Resureccion, Irwin Ver, Rexor Ver, Helma Ver Tuason for “insufficient evidence.”

The Sandiganbayan also cancelled the sequestration order issued by the PCGG against the properties of the defendants in Quezon City, Antipolo City, Binangonan, Rizal, and Tagaytay.