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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Sandiganbayan declares final dismissal of civil forfeiture case vs businessman Ernest Escaler

Sandiganbayan declares final dismissal of civil forfeiture case vs businessman Ernest Escaler

Published Jan 24, 2026 12:46 pm
The Sandiganbayan has declared final and executory its ruling that dismissed the civil forfeiture case filed against businessman Ernest De Leon Escaler as co-respondent of former justice secretary Hernando “Nani” Perez.
On Sept. 17, 2025, the anti-graft court granted Escaler’s demurrer to evidence and dismissed the case against him.
In its Jan. 22, 2026 resolution, the court granted Escaler’s motion for entry of judgment with a ruling that “as of this date, no appeal or motion for reconsideration has been filed, and, thus, the subject resolution has already attained finality.”
The case against Escaler and Perez stemmed from the alleged demand made by the former justice secretary for $2 million in 2001 from former Manila congressman Mario Crespo, also known as Mark Jimenez.
The demanded money was supposedly in exchange for the exclusion of Jimenez in the plunder investigation against former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada over the multi-billion-peso Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) power plant project.
To support the forfeiture case, the prosecution presented documents from banks in Hong Kong and Switzerland. However, the anti-graft court did not accord probative value to the bank documents since the witness who testified did not have personal knowledge of their contents.
On July 4, 2025, the Sandiganbayan granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Perez and his brother-in-law Ramon Antonio Arceo Jr. with a ruling that the prosecution's evidence was "grossly inadequate to support the charge against them."
A demurrer to evidence is a pleading filed by an accused in a criminal case or even in a civil case to dismiss the charge for lack of evidence presented by the prosecution. If the demurrer is allowed by the court and it is granted, an accused is acquitted or the civil case is dismissed.
In its resolution on Escaler’s motion for entry of judgment, the Sandiganbayan also noted the final and executory decision in the cases of Perez and Arceo with the denial of the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration.
The Jan. 22 resolution was signed by Associate Justices Karl B. Miranda, Ronald B. Moreno and Fritz Bryn Anthony M. Delos Santos.
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