Sandiganbayan in Quezon City. (File photo by NI脩O JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The Sandiganbayan鈥檚 Fourth Division has junked the plea by alleged dummies of former President Ferdinand Marcos and wife Imelda to halt the trial of the civil reversion lawsuit involving 3,305 shares in the oldest telecommunication company in the country, Eastern Communications.
In a nine-page resolution, penned by Associate Justice Lorifel Pahimna, the antigraft court said it was 鈥渘ot persuaded鈥� by the defendants鈥� motion, filed in March, to suspend the trial of Civil Case No. 0178 because there was no order from the Supreme Court to stop the trial.
The case seeks to recover 3,305 shares of stock in Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (ETPI) under the names of Rosario Arellano, Victoria Legarda, Angela Lobregat, Benito Nieto, Carlos Nieto, Manuel Nieto III, Ma. Rita delos Reyes, Carmen Tuazon, Ramon Nieto Jr. (standing as legal representative of deceased Ramon Nieto) and Benigno Manuel Valdes (legal representative of Rafael Valdes).
In their manifestation with motion for suspension, the defendants argued that they were unjustly impleaded in another case, Civil Case No. 0009, where the Sandiganbayan Third Division鈥檚 ordered them to return their ETPI shares to the government.
The defendants contended that since they had asked the Supreme Court to review the decision on Civil Case No. 0009, the Fourth Division should also suspend the trial of Civil Case No. 0178.
But the Third Division ruled that the defendants sought an erroneous remedy in seeking the suspension of the trial and should have asked the Supreme Court for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction from the high court, which would suspend the proceedings of Civil Case No. 0178.
鈥淭hus, without any temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction from the Supreme Court ordering this court to suspend the proceeding in this case, we do not have any other option but to deny the motion for suspension on account of pendency of the petition for review,鈥� said the resolution by Pahimna, concurred in by Associate Justices Georgina Hidalgo and Alex Quiroz, the division鈥檚 chair.
The Sandiganbayan鈥檚 Fourth Division also pointed out that it is 鈥渋mperative鈥� for them to push through with the trial or they will be subject to 鈥渁dministrative liability.鈥�
Eastern Communication, now owned by PLDT and Globe Telecom, was founded in 1878 and laid the first submarine cable linking the Philippines and Hong Kong. In the 1970s, the company was acquired by Marcos cronies Jose Africa, Manuel Nieto Jr. and Roberto Benedicto, but their shares were sequestered in 1987.
READ: Marcos ill gotten wealth case: Sandiganbayan orders return to gov鈥檛 of shares in Eastern Telecoms