SANDIGANBAYAN FORFEITS LIGOT’S ASSETS

The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division has ordered the forfeiture of P102 million worth of properties amassed by retired Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot after the antigraft court declared that the properties were “unlawfully acquired.”

In a 70-page decision handed down on Feb. 3, the court partially granted the forfeiture case in favor of the state.

Ligot and four other family members were ordered to hand over the properties such as condominium units, houses in California, paid -up shares, deposits, investments, a vehicle and several other real estate assets. The properties were registered under Ligot or his wife, Erlinda Yambao Ligot, children Paulo, Riza, Miguel and sister Miguela Ligot-Paragas.

The court said Ligot and the other respondents failed to justify how they were able to amass the properties out of their lawful income.

The decision added that Ligot’s acquisitions greatly outweighed his cash inflow from 2001 up to his retirement in 2004.

Ligot and others failed to dispute evidence that between 2001 and 2004, he acquired the properties for P102.1 million that were manifestly disproportionate to his lawful income for the same period, said the decision penned by Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto.

Associate Justices Lorifel Lacap Pahimna and Alex Quiroz, who served as chair, concurred.

The petition was filed in September 2005. It was an offshoot of a lifestyle investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman. The investigation was launched to determine whether the retired military official’s properties that were acquired during his tenure were within his means.