SC lifts indefinite freeze on Ligot bank accounts

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has lifted an indefinite freeze order issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) on assets of retired military comptroller http://imageshack.us/a/img6/3233/gen4z.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img836/8969/gen4nor.jpg and his family being pursued by the government over corruption cases.

In a 24-page decision released yesterday, the second division of the high court held the CA committed an error in extending its July 5, 2005 freeze order for an indefinite period.

The SC said this resulted in violation of Ligot’s constitutional right to due process.

The SC said the CA committed a mistake in extending its order freezing the bank accounts of Ligot, his wife Erlinda and their children “until after all the appropriate proceedings and/or investigations have been terminated.”

A freeze order may be extended, the SC explained, but only for a period of six months since it is “preservatory” and “preemptive” in nature and “intended solely as interim relief.”

Apart from violation of due process, the high court also stressed the indefinite extension of the order “borders on inflicting a punishment to the Ligots, in violation of their constitutionally protected right to be presumed innocent, because the unreasonable denial of their property comes before final conviction.”

In the same ruling, the SC also faulted the government for its six-year late filing of the forfeiture case against the Ligots in court, noting the freeze order was issued in 2005, while the civil forfeiture case to recover Ligot’s assets was filed only in 2011 before the Manila court.

“In this case, the period of inaction of six years, under the circumstances, already far exceeded what is reasonable,” it noted, adding that the government failed to justify such a delay.

“Government’s anti-corruption drive cannot he done at the expense of cherished fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution,” the SC added.

“Under these circumstances, we cannot but conclude that the continued extension of the freeze order beyond the six-month period violated the Ligots’ right to due process; thus, the CA decision should be reversed,” the high court said.

But the high court clarified the lifting of the freeze order was “without prejudice to, and shall not affect, the preservation orders that the lower courts have ordered on the same properties in the cases pending before them.”

It was referring to the civil forfeiture case filed by the government with the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 22.

The freeze order stemmed from the June 27, 2005 request of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze the assets of Ligot, who is accused of amassing millions of pesos in ill-gotten wealth while he was comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) from July 1999 to March 2001, and not declaring over P54 million in assets in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

The AMLC was the agency that filed a petition before the CA to freeze the assets of Ligot.

Apart from corruption cases in the Sandiganbayan and forfeiture case in Manila court, the Ligots are also facing tax evasion case in the Court of Tax Appeals.

The AMLC, on the other hand, refused to comment on the SC decision on Ligot.

“(We) can’t comment at this point since AMLC has not received a copy of the SC decision,” Bangko Sentral governor and AMLC chairman Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a text message.

Other AMLC members – Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc and Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Teresita Herbosa – also declined comment.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also refused to comment on the SC decision.

“The AFP cannot make a comment on a case which is still pending in court. It is subjudice,” AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said.

But a number of middle and senior grade officers who served under Ligot as AFP comptroller said the SC decision will have a direct impact on the ongoing reform measures being implemented by the military leadership, especially in stamping out corruption in the service.

Citing their respective military field experiences with Ligot as AFP comptroller, they said the former general is partly to be blamed for the death of many of their men in the frontlines due lack of financial and logistical support. – Prinz Magtulis, Artemio Dumlao, Jaime Laude