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THE
Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) on
Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to junk the petition for
review on certiorari filed by alleged Marcos dummies
Ignacio Jimenez and Roberto Olanday in connection with
the case involving their alleged ill-gotten wealth
stashed in secret Swiss accounts.
Commissioner Nicasio Conti of legal affairs, also head
of the litigation department, said the appeal should be
denied for being “inequitable, unfair and deceitful.”
He said in a statement: “While the petition of Jimenez
and Olanday anchors on alleged denial of due process,
the December 28, 2006 decision of the Sandiganbayan
showed that they had all the opportunities to present
their evidence to disprove the ill-gotten wealth nature
of their Swiss accounts or deposits but they failed to
avail themselves of the same.” Conti added the motion
was filed after the Swiss Federal Supreme Court had
already rejected the petitioners’ claim that their right
to due process was violated by the Sandiganbayan.
He said
both had repeatedly resorted to dilatory tactics
throughout the proceedings, knowing fully that if
forfeiture proceedings are not completed in the
Philippines within a prescribed period, the frozen
accounts in Switzerland could be subjected to statute of
limitations and could lead to the lifting of the freeze
order.
The
commission had also asked the High Court to dismiss the
petition of the two alleged Marcos cronies on the ground
of forum shopping.
Conti
said that Jimenez and Olanday instituted their petition
without disclosing the material fact that they also
instituted actions seeking similar relief in another
forum, that is the Swiss Courts, where they have
repeatedly persistently filed petitions seeking the
lifting of the freeze order in no less than nine times
raising the same grounds.
In
December 28, 2006, the Sandiganbayan forfeited in favor
of government funds deposited in the Adler Bank in
Zurich, Switzerland, under the name “G.E.I. Inc.,” in
the amounts of $3.2 million and DM3.09 million including
all interests and increments because the funds had
already been identified and frozen by the Swiss
authorities as ill-gotten wealth of Fe Roa and Ignacio
Jimenez.
The
court also found that Olanday merely acted as dummy and
front of the Jimenezes. The ruling was handed down by
the division chaired by Justice Teresita Leonardo de
Castro, with members Justices Diosdado Peralta and Efren
de la Cruz.
Respondent Jimenez filed a motion for reconsideration
dated January 10, 2007, which was denied by the
antigraft court on May 31, 2007, prompting Jimenez to
elevate the matter to the Supreme Court. |
