Case Digest (G.R. No. L-1559)
Facts:
Heirs of Gregorio Licaros; namely, Concepcion B. Licaros and Abelardo B. Licaros v. Sandiganbayan and Republic of the Philippines, G.R. No. 157438, October 18, 2004, Supreme Court Third Division, Panganiban, J., writing for the Court.The petitioners are the heirs of Gregorio S. Licaros, who served as Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1970 to 1980 and died on August 3, 1983. The respondent Republic, through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) assisted by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), filed on July 17, 1987 a civil action in the Sandiganbayan (docketed Sandiganbayan Case No. 0005) to recover alleged ill‑gotten wealth of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Imelda R. Marcos, Lucio C. Tan and other impleaded persons and entities, charging, among other things, conspiracy and fraudulent acquisition of assets of General Bank and Trust Company (GBTC). The original and expanded complaints alleged that GBTC assets worth over P688 million were transferred to the Lucio Tan group for a nominal sum with the connivance of certain government officials, including then‑Central Bank Governor Licaros.
Although Licaros was mentioned in the original pleadings, he was not initially impleaded; only on September 13, 1991 did the Republic move to file and admit a Second Amended Complaint that for the first time named the Estate/Heirs of Licaros as defendants and recited detailed averments of his alleged participation in the GBTC transaction and conspiracy with Marcos, Lucio Tan and Panfilo O. Domingo (PNB). The Second Amended Complaint sought reconveyance, restitution, accounting, damages and related reliefs identical in character to the claims against the main defendants.
On September 3, 2001 the Licaros heirs moved to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint, asserting (1) failure to state a cause of action and (2) prescription and laches; the Republic opposed on October 12, 2001. The Sandiganbayan (Fifth Division, penned by Justice Minita V. Chico‑Nazario) denied the motion to dismiss on August 13, 2002 and denied the motion for reconsideration on February 6, 2003. The heirs then filed a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 seeking to nullify those Sandiganbayan Resolutions; the matter was submitted for...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the Second Amended Complaint states a cause of action against the heirs of Gregorio S. Licaros.
- Whether the Second Amended Complaint is barred by prescription and laches.
- Whether the Sandiganbayan has jurisdiction to determine the validity of the liquidation of GBTC and the acquisition by the Lucio Tan group and Licaros’s alleged culpability despite t...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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