Court orders forfeiture of P102 million assets of retired comptroller

MANILA, Philippines — The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has ordered the forfeiture of P102 million worth of “unlawfully acquired” properties of retired military comptroller Jacinto Ligot, his wife Erlinda and their three children.

In its 70-page decision promulgated on Feb. 3, the court’s Second Division said the prosecution team of the Office of the Ombudsman was able to prove that the total value of the properties, acquired between 2001 to 2004, was “manifestly out of proportion” to Ligot’s compensation and other lawful income during his term in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“In like manner, respondent Ligot’s family members failed to present evidence to show that they had any lawful source of income to controvert petitioner’s evidence, which show that only respondent Gen. Ligot could have afforded the purchases made in their names,” read a portion of the decision.

The court cited Section 2 of Republic Act 1379 or the Forfeiture Law, which states that any unexplained wealth or property disproportionate to the public official’s lawful income is considered to be unlawfully acquired and thus must be forfeited in favor of the government.

It noted that at least 13 of the properties registered under Ligot’s name or that of his children and wife were not even declared in Ligot’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

“At first glance, the total value of respondent Gen. Ligot’s acquisitions from 1982 up to his retirement in 17 August 2004 – both declared and undeclared in his SALNs – amount to P110,916,521.95, while his total disposable income for the same period only stands at P9,154,686.90,” the Second Division noted.

“His income from lawful sources was simply not enough to support the mass of his acquisitions. His expenditures surpassed his disposable income by at least P101,761,835.64,” it said.

The ombudsman, which filed the petition for forfeiture in 2005, originally prayed to the court to forfeit in favor of the government a total of P135.28 million of real and personal properties of Ligot and his family acquired during his entire years of service in the AFP from 1982 to 2004.

The court, however, lowered the total amount to be forfeited to P102.126 million, as it excluded the properties under the names of Ligot’s brother-in-law Edgardo Tecson Yambao and wife Maria Isabel Yambao for failure of the prosecution to establish the properties’ link to Ligot.

The court also limited the coverage period to 2001 to 2004, saying the value of the properties acquired in prior years cannot be considered as “manifestly out of proportion” to Ligot’s lawful income.

Among the properties ordered to be forfeited were those under the names of Ligot, his wife Erlinda, their children Paulo, Riza and Miguel and Ligot’s sister Miguela Ligot-Paragas.

These include condominium units at East Forbes in Taguig City and Salcedo Village in Bel-Air, Makati; three parcels of corn land in Bukidnon; a guard house, quarantine house and bodega in Malaybalay, Bukidnon; poultry building and rest house in Malaybalay; a lot, building, shower tank and machineries also in Malaybalay; a lot in Morong, Rizal; two houses in California, USA; a 2001 Toyota Hi-Lux; shares in Parmil Farms Inc. and deposits/investments in the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loans Association Inc. (AFPSLAI).

Ligot has another forfeiture case pending at the Second Division pertaining to his and his family’s bank deposits and investment accounts totaling P55.596 million which were also allegedly disproportionate to Ligot’s lawful source of income for 1998 to 2003.