THE SANDIGANBAYAN on Thursday reset proceedings on the ill-gotten wealth case of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and his family since a pre-trial date had yet to be determined.
“The hearing today was canceled and reset to Aug. 5 since there is no pre-trial yet with respect to the republic and defendant Marcos, Jr.,” Sandiganbayan Second Division Executive Clerk of Court Anne Marie D. Crespillo said in an e-mail.
She added that Mr. Marcos’ lawyer had sought more time to review the records of the case.
The Marcos family was originally set to present initial evidence at Thursday’s hearing.
Marcos lawyer Manuel S. Plaza III told DZBB radio he had asked the anti-graft court to give more time to examine the records.
“We asked the court for more time to look back on our records because we want to make sure that the witnesses and evidence that we present will be admissible,” he said, according to a DZBB video posted on Twitter.
Last month, the Sandiganbayan Second Division in a 13-page order allowed the Marcos family to present evidence after rejecting the government’s motion to waive the family’s right to present evidence.
“To allow the defendants to present their evidence and proceed with the trial of the case would be in furtherance of seeking the truth,” according to the ruling penned by Associate Justice Arthur O. Malabaguio.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government filed the case in 1987, accusing business associates of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos and his wife Imelda — Marcos, Jr.’s parents — of acting as their dummies to acquire ill-gotten wealth using state funds.
The former president and his family went into exile in Haiwaii after a popular street uprising toppled his regime in 1986. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
