BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

THE Supreme Court yesterday denied with finality the bid of the Presidential Commission on Good Government and Office of the Solicitor General to sequester the shares of Lucio Tan in several firms including Allied Bank and Fortune Tobacco.

The Court’s First Division said the petitioners failed to raise any new arguments to warrant a reversal of its decision last December.

Jay Ermin Miguel, head of the PCGG’s legal department, said the sequestration bid was just a "provisionary remedy" to execute the supervision over Tan’s assets.

"The decision of the high court is just on technical grounds. We just have to prove our main course of action before the Sandiganbayan. The sequestration trial will still proceed with the Sandiganbayan," he said.

In its December 7 ruling, the SC affirmed the Sandiganbayan’s decision in civil cases Nos. 0096, 0097, 0098, and 0099, all titled "Lucio Tan et al. vs. PCGG."

The decision lifted the writs of sequestration against Tan’s properties such as Allied Bank, Maranao Hotels and Resort Corp., Foremost Farms Inc., and Fortune Tobacco and Shareholdings Inc.

The high court said the PCGG failed to present prima facie evidence that the shares belong to the government or any of its branches, instrumentalities, enterprises, banks or financial institutions.

According to the SC, the disputed shares sequestered by the PCGG in these four firms do not constitute ill-gotten wealth.

The Court said that PCGG’s evidence did not show how the properties acquired by Tan and his co-respondents became ill gotten and whether President Ferdinand Marcos intervened in their acquisition.

"Nor is there evidence that respondents, taking undue advantage of their connections or relationship with former President Marcos or his family, relatives and close associates, were able to acquire those shares of stock," the SC said.

The Court said the only evidence held by the petitioner prior to the issuance of the writs of sequestration was the minutes of its meetings.

The PCGG said the decision of the Sandiganbayan was null and void as it has no jurisdiction over the petitions for certiorari, prohibition and injunction originally filed by Tan.

It said that Presidential Decree No. 1606, the law creating Sandiganbayan, did not vest that court with jurisdiction to take cognizance of such petitions.

Even if the Sandiganbayan has jurisdiction over to try and decide Tan’s petition, the PCGG claimed that it erred in holding that there is no prima facie evidence to justify the issuance of the sequestration orders.

The PCGG said it presented voluminous documents which respondents failed to contradict.

Aside from documentary evidence, the PCGG and OSG stressed that the admission of former First Lady Imelda Marcos that her husband owns 60 percent of the Tan’s companies can be considered as prima facie basis to warrant the sequestration of the subject firms.

The other respondents are Mariano Tanenglian, Allied Bank, Iris Holdings & Development Corp., Jewel Holdings Inc., Carmen Khao Tan, Florencio Santos Jr., Foremost Farms Inc., Shareholdings Inc. and Fortune Tobacco Corp.

The case stemmed from the orders issued in 1986 and on January 7, 1987 by the PCGG to sequester shares of stock of Tan and the other respondents in the firms. Thereafter, the respondents filed a civil complaint to have the orders of sequestration lifted.

On Aug. 23, 1993, the graft court rendered its decision in Civil Case No. 0095 nullifying the PCGG’s orders of sequestration of Sipalay’s shares of stocks in Maranao Hotel & Resort Corporation, and in Civil Case 0100 nullified the govern-ment’s search and seizure order on Allied Bank’s documents.

On March 2, 2006, the graft court promulgated its "joint decision" in the remaining civil cases 0096 to 0099, declaring that the writs of sequestration issued by government against PCGG’s shares of stock are void and of no legal effect.

In resolving civil cases 0096-0099, the graft court held that the writs of sequestration were issued by PCGG without prima facie factual foundation that the properties covered are ill gotten.