Tuesday

Tan Asks Court to Bar Extensions in Graft Case... May Tinatago ba si Dr. LT?

Tan asks court to bar extensions in graft case



Lawyers of businessman Lucio Tan on Tuesday asked the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division to set Aug. 10, 2009 as the final deadline for the Office of the Solicitor General to present more evidence in the P51-billion Marcos ill-gotten wealth case involving Tan's assets.

Estelito P. Mendoza and Orlando A. Santiago, counsel for Tan and his companies, noted that the court’s directive for government lawyers to terminate its presentation of evidence was issued way back April 23, 2009 but they have yet to comply.

They said government lawyers only have themselves to blame if their presentation is still incomplete until now – almost 22 years since the case was first filed.

CC No. 0005 was filed in court in July 1987, but the government made modifications and submitted an amended complaint in 1990 and a second amended complaint in September 1991. Tan challenged the case before the Supreme Court which upheld the government stand and ordered a full trial in 1999.

In a motion dated July 11, the OSG asked the court for an extension of 30 days in which to file its formal offer of exhibits or until August 10, 2009.

In a nine-page resolution promulgated July 20, the graft court junked the government’s appeal seeking to set aside the April 23 order to end its presentation. The ruling effectively barred the OSG’s attempt to get former First Lady Imelda Marcos and Tan’s brother Mariano Tanenglian to testify against him.

The Sandiganbayan said it gave no less than 17 extensions for government lawyers to complete their presentation between May 16, 2006 and April 23, 2009.

“This Court cannot forever be waiting for the plaintiff to present all its witnesses. There comes a point when the case should be put to rest and not be allowed to linger in its docket with no end in sight,” the graft court declared.

Presiding Justice Ma. Cristina Cortez-Estrada penned the ruling concurred in by Associate Justices Roland B. Jurado and Napoleon E. Inoturan.

Civil Case no. 0005, filed in July 1987, named the Marcos estate, former first lady Imelda Marcos and former Central Bank governor Gregorio Licaros and former Philippine National Bank president Panfilo Domingo, both deceased, as respondents.

The Marcos family claims that at least 60 percent of Tan’s holdings in his various companies acutally belonged to them and was only entrusted to him by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the Philippines, you can buy your way out of crime, you can buy a wife, a mistress, a Congressman, even a President.

Glad we are out of the country.

Concerned OFW

Anonymous said...

I firmly believe in the freedom of the press. And I accept the criticisms poured on me, painful as they are, as part and parcel of the hazards of public service, and conducive to its honest performance. True, I have sued for libel, but I did not use the power of the Presidency to advance my cause. And this is shown by the fact that four years later my case continues to drag on. I have not forgotten that what my husband wanted most in prison was for the public to hear the side of freedom, and no newspaper would print it. - Pres. Corazon Aquino, last SONA

Anonymous said...

At 80, Washington Sycip still believes in the power of people and their talents. His brilliance in people mastery earned him titles like “the grand guru” of business management in his 60-year career. He shared lessons like the importance of INTEGRITY and hard work.

Anonymous said...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1370&dat=19941014&id=KJUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2QoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4492,2367138

True 15 years ago, True today.

This is why we left the Philippines. The Philippines has not changed.

Anonymous said...

"The Filipino is worth paying for" - Kapitan

Anonymous said...

Kapitan, pardon my Chinese, is
WAN DAM BAD MAN

Anonymous said...

bakit walang balita tungkol kay mariano? ano ito favoritism ng blog owner?

GMA News said...

Bongbong Marcos tetestigo sa Sandiganbayan laban kay Lucio Tan

Ipinatawag ng Sandiganbayan nitong Biyernes si Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. para tumestigo sa kaso ng pagbawi ng gobyerno sa 60 porsyento ng mga kumpanya ng negosyanteng si Lucio Tan.

Pumayag si Bongbong, ang tanging anak na lalaki nina yumaong Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos at First Lady Imelda Marcos, na tumestigo sa korte.

Ipinahayag ito ni Bongbong sa pamamagitan ng kanyang abogadong si Eloisa Sy.

Si Bongbong at ang kanyang ina ang co-administrators sa mga pag-aari ng dating diktador.

Ang mga kumpanyang planong bawiin ng pamahalaan ay ang Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery, Inc., Allied Banking Corp., Foremost Farms, Himmel Industries, Inc., Grandspan Development Corp., Silangan Holdings, Inc., Dominium Realty and Construction Corp at Shareholdings, Inc.

Sa taong ito, nakapasok muli si Tan sa listahan ng Forbes Magazine bilang ikalawang pinakamayamang Filipino na may personal assets na aabot sa humigit-kumulang $2.3 B. Nanguna ang may-ari ng SM shopping malls si Henry Sy sa listahan.

Ang subpoena kay Bongbong ay inilabas ng Sandiganbayan Fifth Division at inuutusan siya na dumalo sa pagdinig sa ganap na 1:30 ng hapon ng Agosto 1.

Ang direktiba ng korte ay batay sa hiling ng Presidential Commission on Good Government.

Sinabihan si Bongbong na magdala ng 24 na set ng dokumentong magpapatunay na ang pinag-aagawang 60 porsyento ng mga nabanggit na kumpanya ay hinawakan lamang ni Tan para sa mga Marcos.

Kabilang sa mga dokumentong ipinadadala sa nakababatang Marcos ay ang kopya ng
‘Brief History of Shareholdings Inc.’ na diumano’y ibinigay mismo ni Tan kay Pangulong Marcos noong 1985.

Kasama din ang certified true copies ng deed of sale ng mga individual stakeholders ng siyam na kumpanya na nagbebenta ng kanilang pag-aari sa Shareholdings Inc.

Hiniling din ng PCGG kay Marcos na magdala ng kopya ng blank deeds of assignment of shares of stocks sa Supreme Holdings at Falcon Holdings maging ang kopya ng “handwritten notes" ni Mariano Tanenglian tungkol sa “structure" at stocks ng Shareholdings Inc.

Stockholder si Tanenglian sa halos limang kumpanya na kinukwestiyon ng gobyerno.

Pinangalanan din sina Mrs Marcos at Irene Marcos-Araneta ng PCGG na maaaring tumestigo laban kay Tan.