|
THE
First Division of the Sandiganbayan dismissed Wednesday
the government’s suit seeking to recover the 20-percent
shares of businessman Eduardo Cojuangco with San Miguel
Corp. (SMC) owing to lack of evidence.
In a
55-page decision penned by Associate Justice Diosdado
Peralta and concurred in by Presiding Justice Teresita
Leonardo de Castro and Associate Justice Efren dela
Cruz, the Sandiganbayan ruled that the Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG) failed to prove its
claim that Cojuangco bought the shares with coconut-levy
funds.
“The
court is constrained to dismiss, as it hereby dismisses,
the third amended complaint…for failure of plaintiff to
prove by preponderance of evidence its causes of action
against defendants with respect to the 20- percent
outstanding shares of stock of San Miguel Corp.
registered in defendants’ names, denominated herein as
the ‘Cojuangco et. al block’ of SMC shares,” the court
said in dismissing the 20-year-old case.
“Referring to plaintiff’s causes of action against
defendants Cojuangco et al., the Court finds its
evidence insufficient to prove that the source of funds
used to purchase SMC shares indeed came from
coconut-levy funds,” it added.
The
court’s decision also automatically junked a separate
claim by the Philippine Coconut Producers Federation (Cocofed).
“Intervenors Cocofed et al., while notified of the
proceedings, took no stand to participate therein. As it
is, the Court can only conclude that Cocofed et al.’s
interest does not so much lie therein except to disprove
that Cocofed acted as dummy of defendants Cojuangco et
al.,” the antigraft court said.
The
government had claimed Cojuangco illegally acquired the
20-percent shares by using funds from the special levy
collected from coconut farmers between 1973 and 1982 as
a forced tax through a presidential decree issued by
former President Marcos. The dictator had appointed
Cojuangco the administrator of the funds.
In 2004
the same court declared that the 27-percent block shares
of the Coconut Industry Investment Funds (CIIF) with San
Miguel were “owned by the government in trust for all
coconut farmers.”
Cojuangco argued that he bought the 20-percent shares
from the Ayala family through loans.
The
court said there was no evidence proving that coco-levy
funds were used in the acquisition of the questioned
shares.
“The
court finds evidence insufficient to prove that the
loans obtained by defendant Cojuangco Jr. were the same
money used to pay for the SMC shares. The scheme alleged
to have been taken by defendant Cojuangco Jr. was not
even established by any paper trail or testimonial
evidence that would have identified the same,” it said.
The
First Division said even in the early stage of the case
the government was “already uncertain as to what
documents to present” in proving its claim. |
