Sandiganbayan: Marcoses' ‘Malacañang of the North’ is on state property

The Marcos family will have to give up their 57.68-hectare resort in Paoay, Ilocos Norte following a decision by the Sandiganbayan First Division that it is public land.

 

In a 33-page decision, the anti-graft court rendered a 1978 lease agreement between then President Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) null and void, saying the property in question cannot be owned by a private entity because it is part of a national park.

 

The anti-graft court’s First Division ruled the Marcoses do not legally own the property because the area covered by the lease agreement was “inalienable public domain,” being part of a national park. The case was filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).

 

“The Paoay Lake and lands within one kilometer from its water line was declared to be a national park and therefore considered public land. The lots covered by the lease agreement are inside this one-kilometer zone. These were therefore outside the commerce of man,” the decision read.

 

In the same ruling, the Sandiganbayan advised the PCGG to promptly recover the properties through the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

 

Earlier, Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wrote a memorandum to the Sandiganbayan saying the case is not in its jurisdiction since it is not about the recovery of supposed ill-gotten wealth. 

 

“(T)his action is not one for recovery of ill-gotten wealth, coupled with the fact that the parcels of land are not under sequestration, this Honorable Court must dismiss for lack of jurisdiction,” Sen. Marcos' lawyers said in January.
 

He added that the PCGG is not the lessee in the contract. If there is anyone who should seek to nullify the lease contract, it should be the PTA, the lessee. The PTA has since been renamed Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.

Marcos also said the PCGG's action to seek the nullification of the lease contract for the Paoay property is already moot since the co ntract expired in 2003. 

 

But the Sandiganbayan dismissed Sen. Marcos' argument that the Paoay properties are not among his family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.

 

“It does not matter that the PCGG never sequestered the property. What matters is that the petition alleges that the former president used all his powers and influence to appropriate to himself all the lots covered by the lease with scanty claims of ownership,” the decision said.

 

The Paoay properties covered by the Sandiganbayan decision include the Malacañang Ti Amianan, or the Malacañang of the North, the Maharlika Hall building, Suba Sports Complex, the Old Motor Pool, swimming pools, a tennis court and an 18-hole golf course, all of which are being placed under the control of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority. — Patricia Denise Chiu/JDS, GMa News