SELDA hits Sandigan for dismissing case vs Marcoses

MANILA, Philippines — Rights group Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) hit the Sandiganbayan’s decision to uphold the dismissal of the P102-billion forfeiture case against former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, his wife Imelda and their alleged cronies.

Danilo dela Fuente, the group’s spokesman, said the move by the Sandiganbayan is a complete travesty of justice.

“Contrary to its mandate as an anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan has chosen to coddle this family of plunderers and their cohorts, while the Filipino people, especially martial law victims and relatives, are still bereft of justice,”he said.

He warned that the move can worsen the justice system in the country.

“As Sandiganbayan drops the charges against the biggest thief in history, it also unwittingly reinforces the prevailing culture of impunity,” Dela Fuente said.

He said the decision in an injustice that “emboldens corrupt public officials to continue their crooked ways in plundering the land.”

Dela Fuente said the Sandiganbayan ruling is proof of the political rehabilitation of the late dictator’s family, courtesy of the Duterte regime.

 “It’s obvious that Duterte fashioned himself after the late dictator – killing thousands of people, appointing minions in key government posts, betraying the country by unapologetically ‘selling’ our resources and sovereignty to foreign powers, among others,” the SELDA spokesman said.