MANILA, Philippine – The special division of the Sandiganbayan has been urged by government lawyers to resolve the forfeiture case involving jewelries confiscated from the Marcos family in 1986.
The “MalacaƱang Jewelry Collection," composed of sets of gems and baubles, are believed to be worth between $110,055 and $153,089.
The set of jewels was turned over the Central Bank after it was left abandoned in the Palace by the Marcoses.
Lawyers of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) earlier asked the graft court to declare the jewels forfeited in favor of the State.
The Marcos family, meanwhile, claimed that the motion for partial summary judgment filed by the government was improper because a first motion was denied on November 20, 1997.
On December 29, 2010, however, the graft court denied the Omnibus Motion of the Marcoses.
With the ruling, government lawyers said the Sandiganbayan can now decide on the ownership dispute.
"Verily, the proceeding to forfeit these assets by summary judgment is ripe for judicial determination and disposition," they said.
The lawyers argued that the jewels should go to the government because the total assets of the Marcoses previously forfeited by the courts were already well beyond their lawful income of $304,372.43 in 1986.
The government lawyers are: Assistant Solicitor General John Emmanuel F. Madamba; associate solicitors Moses V. Florendo and Camille R. Buhain; PCGG commissioners Richard R.T. Amurao and Ma. Ngina Teresa V. Chan-Gonzaga; and PCGG Legal Division chief Ma. Luisa M. Narvadez.
source: abs-cbnnews.com