SC stops return of Marcos Mansion to heirs

The Supreme Court ( SC) has reversed a ruling handed down by the Sandiganbayan in 2010 allowing the return to the Marcos family of a 25-hectare property in Cabuyao, Laguna.

In a decision released recently, the high court Second Division granted a petition filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) seeking to keep the so-called Marcos Mansion in the preliminary attachment in a pending civil suit on the ill-gotten wealth of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

The SC said the property, which was seized by the government more than two decades ago, should not be returned to the Marcoses pending resolution of a civil case against them.

The high tribunal said the anti-graft court should have issued an order of preliminary attachment, considering the requisites of the law – including that of Executive Order No. 14 – have been substantially met.

It said there is basis for the issuance of the preliminary attachment.

The SC said the Sandiganbayan erred when it cancelled the notice written in the transfer certificate of title (TCT) of the property, which was registered under the names of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and Irene Marcos-Araneta.

“Procedural rules are not mere technicalities that can be disregarded at whim by the parties or by our courts. Neither should they be applied so mechanically without any appreciation of their purpose and object,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.

Aside from voiding the Sandiganbayan ruling, the high court ordered the Registry of Deeds of Cabuyao to re-annotate the notice on the property’s TCT.

Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Mariano del Castillo and Jose Mendoza concurred with the ruling.

In the assailed ruling, the Sandiganbayan voided the government takeover of the property due to PCGG’s failure to include the property in the lawsuit.

The SC issued a temporary restraining order on the Sandiganbayan order in 2011.

The Canlubang Mansion was among several rest houses of the Marcoses turned over by the administration of the late president Corazon Aquino in 1988.

In July 1987, the PCGG filed before the Sandiganbayan a complaint seeking for reversion, reconveyance, restitution, accounting and damages against the Marcoses.

The case was part of the previous governments’ efforts to recover the ill-gotten wealth acquired by the Marcoses and their cronies, dummies and business associates.