Sandiganbayan dismisses civil case against Yulo heirs, YKR Corporation
Published Jul 30, 2019 02:24 pm
By Czarina Nicole Ong-Ki
The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division has granted the demurrer to evidence filed by six defendants, who are the heirs of the late Luis Yulo, and the Yulo King Ranch (YKR) Corporation in their civil case involving the ill-gotten wealth of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Sandiganbayan (MANILA BULLETIN)
The defendants filed their demurrer to evidence on May 28. A demurrer is a method by which a defendant challenges the prosecution's evidence as insufficient to render a guilty verdict. If the court grants the demurrer, the case is dismissed.
In their demurrer, the defendants moved for the dismissal of the civil case because they argued that the Philippine Agri-Business Center Corporation (PABC) had no legal capacity to sue them.
They added that the PABC had no interest in the properties involved in the civil case, since the alleged certificates of titles were not in its name.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by PABC over the ownership of two parcels of land covered by TCT Nos. 6110 and 6111 in Busuanga, Palawan, which is known as part of the YKR. The PABC claimed that YKR Corporation unlawfully entered into the subject property and used it for cattle breeding and dispersal operations sometime in 1975.
The PABC demanded that YKR Corporation, which was associated with the late President Ferdinand Marcos, vacate the properties. However, the demand was unheeded.
YKR then suggested a land-swapping arrangement after the intervention of then Minister Juan Tuvera, but this did not materialize since PABC rejected the public land being offered because it was situated in a rebel-infested territory in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental.
It was only in April 2, 1986 that the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG) sequestered the YKR and gave possession and control of all of its assets, including the two parcels of land, to the Ministry of Agriculture. Throughout it all, the PABC failed to secure the said properties.
In its 14-page resolution, the anti-graft court ruled that the PABC's claim over the subject properties "remains unsubstantiated" because it failed to present the original Certificates of Title of its alleged predecessors.
The PABC likewise failed to prove that it has a superior right over the Busuanga properties and that the government should yield to its private rights.
"It is inevitable to conclude that the plaintiff-in-intervention failed to substantiate its right of relief with a preponderance of evidence," the resolution read.
"Wherefore, in the light of the foregoing, the present demurrer to evidence is hereby granted. Accordingly, the complainant-in-intervention is hereby dismissed," it added.
The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega with the concurrence of Chairperson Rafael Lagos and Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Manalac.
Sandiganbayan (MANILA BULLETIN)
The defendants filed their demurrer to evidence on May 28. A demurrer is a method by which a defendant challenges the prosecution's evidence as insufficient to render a guilty verdict. If the court grants the demurrer, the case is dismissed.
In their demurrer, the defendants moved for the dismissal of the civil case because they argued that the Philippine Agri-Business Center Corporation (PABC) had no legal capacity to sue them.
They added that the PABC had no interest in the properties involved in the civil case, since the alleged certificates of titles were not in its name.
The case stemmed from the complaint filed by PABC over the ownership of two parcels of land covered by TCT Nos. 6110 and 6111 in Busuanga, Palawan, which is known as part of the YKR. The PABC claimed that YKR Corporation unlawfully entered into the subject property and used it for cattle breeding and dispersal operations sometime in 1975.
The PABC demanded that YKR Corporation, which was associated with the late President Ferdinand Marcos, vacate the properties. However, the demand was unheeded.
YKR then suggested a land-swapping arrangement after the intervention of then Minister Juan Tuvera, but this did not materialize since PABC rejected the public land being offered because it was situated in a rebel-infested territory in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental.
It was only in April 2, 1986 that the Philippine Commission on Good Government (PCGG) sequestered the YKR and gave possession and control of all of its assets, including the two parcels of land, to the Ministry of Agriculture. Throughout it all, the PABC failed to secure the said properties.
In its 14-page resolution, the anti-graft court ruled that the PABC's claim over the subject properties "remains unsubstantiated" because it failed to present the original Certificates of Title of its alleged predecessors.
The PABC likewise failed to prove that it has a superior right over the Busuanga properties and that the government should yield to its private rights.
"It is inevitable to conclude that the plaintiff-in-intervention failed to substantiate its right of relief with a preponderance of evidence," the resolution read.
"Wherefore, in the light of the foregoing, the present demurrer to evidence is hereby granted. Accordingly, the complainant-in-intervention is hereby dismissed," it added.
The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega with the concurrence of Chairperson Rafael Lagos and Associate Justice Maryann Corpus-Manalac.