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2 Cessna planes of alleged Marcos crony sold for P140,000


The two Cessna aircraft sequestered from late Alfonso Lim, an alleged crony of the Marcos family, was sold by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court at a measly amount of P140,000.

In a phone interview with reporters, Sandiganbayan Second Division sheriff Alexander Valencia said both planes were sold to an American national working at the Subic Bay International Airport.

The two planes were sold through a public auction participated in by five bidders.

The auction was held Tuesday morning at the hangar of Northern Resort Inc. (NRI) located at Delta Sector, General Aviation Area of the Manila Domestic Airport in Pasay City.

Valencia said the sequestered single-engine, six-seater Cessna Centurion II Model T210 was sold at P100,000 while the twin-engine, 10-seater Cessna Golden Eagle II Model C-421C was sold at P40,000.

Valencia said bidding price for the six-seater Cessna Centurion II started at P80,000 while bidding price for the 10-seater Cessna Golden Eagle II started at P10,000.

He said the auction only lasted for 15 minutes.

Valencia said the winning bidder did not state his purpose for buying the aircraft but immediately checked their engines right after the auction was finished.

Proceeds from the sale, which was paid by the American national in cash, would be deposited to the Sandiganbayan Cashier's Office, Valencia said.

The auction of the two aircraft was in compliance with Sandiganbayan Second Division’s March 29, 2016 resolution granting the NRI’s motion to immediately dispose the aircraft from its hangar.

In its motion filed on January 26, the NRI lamented that, despite the December 11, 2015 ruling by the court ordering the return of the all assets and other properties of Lim and his companies to the government, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), which was tasked to implement the Sandiganbayan ruling, has not initiated any effort to auction Lim’s sequestered aircraft.

The NRI said the aircraft have been grounded at its hangar since 1994, causing revenue losses to the company.

Because of this, the Second Division granted the NRI’s motion to transfer the responsibility of selling the two aircraft from PCGG to the Sandiganbayan Sheriff and Security Services Office.
 
In its resolution, the Second Division said the winning buyer would have to remove the aircraft from NRI hangar within 10 days after the date of sale, otherwise the buyer would have to pay NRI P10,000 for each day of delay.

Aside from the two aircraft, other properties of Lim ordered returned to the government based on the Second Division’s December 11, 2015 ruling were the following:

- 16 parcels of land in Rizal, Batangas, Tagaytay City, Cagayan and in Paco, Manila;

- Shares of stocks in Taggat Industries Inc., Pamplona Redwood Veneer Inc., Sierra Madre Wood Industries Inc., Veterans Woodworks Inc., Southern Plywood Corp. and Western Cagayan Lumber;

- A sea vessel owned by Sierra Madre, machineries, vehicles, office equipment and furniture

- Cash assets, receivables, inventories and investments by Taggat and Pamplona Redwood

- Bank accounts of Pamplona Redwood with Consolidated Bank and Trust Co. and Equitable Banking Corp.; and Taggat with Consolidated Bank, PNB, Equitable, Philippine Banking Corp. and Allied Bank; and

- Frozen bank accounts and assets or Alfonso Lim Sr. his sons Alfonso Lim Jr. and Lawrence Lim.

Based on the appraisal conducted by PCGG Property Appraiser Steve Alcantara, the value of the real properties alone totaled P511.122 million as of July 20, 2006.

The resolved case against Lim was part of the civil forfeiture cases filed by PCGG before the Sandiganbayan in 1987 against the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., his wife former First Lady and incumbent Ilocos Norter Rep. Imelda Marcos, and their alleged cronies.

Following Marcos Sr.’s death in 1989, the Sandiganbayan named Mrs. Marcos and her children—incumbent Ilocos Norte governor Imee Marcos, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Irene Marcos-Araneta—as substitute defendants in the cases. —KBK, GMA News

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