THE Sandiganbayan has upheld the stand of the Office of the Ombudsman that the government has the right to go after the alleged $2 million undeclared bank deposits of former Justice secretary Hernando “Nani” Perez, his wife Rosario, brother-in-law Ramon Arceo, and businessman Ernest Escaler.
Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang penned the 15-page resolution that sustained the State’s objections to the Interrogatories filed by the Perezes and Arceo. Associate Justices Bernelito R. Fernandez and Ronald B. Moreno concurred.
The respondents sought admission by the state that a petition for forfeiture should not be filed four years after the respondent public official has resigned or was dismissed from office, invoking Section 2 of RA 1379.
They pointed out that Perez resigned as Justice secretary on January 2, 2003 but the petition for forfeiture was lodged with the Sandiganbayan only on November 14, 2014, or 11 years after he vacated his post.
Based on the complaint, the Office of the Ombudsman said Perez failed to disclose a $1.7 million fund transfer that went into his bank account courtesy of Escaler. Investigators said they have the paper trail of the transaction.
The sum was reportedly part of the $2 million cash paid to Perez by Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, alias Mario Crespo, in February 2001 in exchange for his exclusion in a plunder investigation against deposed President Joseph Estrada.
In affirming the validity of the forfeiture petition, the anti-graft court noted that similar issues have been raised by Escaler in his Request for Admission and Written Interrogatories and that these were already discussed in a December 7, 2020 resolution.
It reiterated the state can pursue recovery of ill-gotten wealth by public officials without being subjected to time limits.
“The 1987 Constitution specifically provides that the right of the State to recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials or employees, from them or from their nominees or transferees, shall not be barred by prescription, laches, or estoppel,” the Sandiganbayan said.
