The Sandiganbayan’s Second Division turned down a civil action against the Marcoses, stating that their right to a quick case resolution had been breached.
The court granted former first lady Imelda Marcos and the heirs of late President Ferdinand Marcos’ move to dismiss in a 30-page resolution issued on October 4, 2024.
The court said that the reason for the delay began with the defective complaint, which led to the filing of the bill of particulars and the dismissal of the case against the Estate of Ferdinand Marcos in a Resolution dated Oct. 25, 2012. The Supreme Court reversed this resolution, but it excluded the Estate of Ferdinand Marcos from paragraphs 9, 12(a), 12(b), 12(c), and 12(e) of the Expanded Complaint. Paragraph 12(d) or the Pinugay Estate retains its standing valid effect.
“Scrutiny of the chronology of events in this case shows a plethora of motions for extension filed due to unpreparedness or lack of witnesses/documentary evidence, aside from pending incidents, and scheduled pre-trial cancellations contributing to the inordinate delay. Thus far, there has been no pre-trial in this case and the trial has not even started. A long period has elapsed without the defendants having their case tried”, the ruling stated.
The court further stated that the plaintiff did not oppose the request to dismiss.
“In fact, the plaintiff tends to agree with the dismissal of the case when it emphasizes that there are no more allegations against the Estate of Marcos…. It said that the Pinugay Estate alluded to in paragraph 12(d) was not included in Annex A of the Complaint”, as stated by the court.