The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the government’s claim on the shares of stocks of Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (ETPI) registered in the names of the relatives of businessmen Manuel Nieto Jr. and Jose Africa.

In a decision issued last July 29, the anti-graft court dismissed for lack of merit the Complaint for Reconveyance, Reversion, Accounting, and Restitution with Prayer for Writ of Preliminary Attachment filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and assisted by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

Named defendants in the complaint were Andres L. Africa, Victor Africa, Lourdes A. Africa, Nathalie A. Africa, Jose Enrique A. Africa, Paul Delfin A. Africa, Rosario N. Arellano, Juan de Ocampo, Racquel S. Dinglasan, Victoria N. Legarda, Angela N. Lobregat, Benito V. Nieto, Carlos V. Nieto, Manuel V. Nieto III, Ramon V. Nieto, Ma. Rita N. Delos Reyes, Evelyn A. Romero, Rosario A. Songco, Carmen N. Tuazon, and Rafael C. Valdez.

In Civil Case No. 0178, which was filed before the anti-graft court on Oct. 29, 1997, Nieto, Africa, and several others were accused of reportedly holding 3,305 shares of stock in ETPI for the benefit of former the late former president Ferdinand E. Marcos and his wife, Imelda.

The complaint in Civil Case No. 0178 was an offshoot of another complaint for reversion in Civil Case No. 0009, which the anti-graft court granted in favor of the government on Dec. 4, 2019. T

However, the court said that the conclusion in Civil Case No. 0009 does not equate to the same conclusion in Civil Case No. 0178.

Fatal to the complaint for Civil Case No. 0178 was the absence of credible testimonial evidence, which the court said are not sufficient to establish the allegations in the complaint -- that the defendants "knowingly and willingly allowed themselves to be used by Jose L. Africa and Manuel H. Nieto, Jr. as dummies, fronts, shields, nominees and/or agents of the latter in recording ETPI shares of stock in their individual names without lawful consideration to the prejudice of the government."

"The Court finds it unfortunate that despite the length of time that this case has been pending, and the vast resources of the government to pursue cases of ill-gotten wealth, the plaintiff miserably failed to prove the allegations in the complaint," it also said.

The 38-page decision was written by Associate Justice Lorifel Lacap Pahimna with the concurrence of Fourth Division Chairperson Associate Justice Michael Frederick L. Musngi and Associate Justice Gener M. Gito.