The Sandiganbayan has junked another ill-gotten wealth case against the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. and former First Lady Imelda Marcos owing to the government prosecutors’ failure to resolve the case after nearly four decades since the filing of the complaint.

According to the anti-graft court, the Presidential Commission on Good Government’s (PCGG) and Office of the Solicitor General’s inaction to prosecute Civil Case 0032 for almost 38 years is “unreasonable” and thus warrants the dismissal of the complaint against the Marcos couple.

“As it is, the present complaint has clogged the docket of the Court for so long, and it can no longer be countenanced,” the court said in a resolution promulgated on 18 February.

“So viewed, the dismissal of the instant complaint against defendant Spouses Marcos for actual, moral, temperate, nominal, and exemplary damages and attorney's fees is proper,” it added.

Civil Case 0032 sought reconveyance, reversion, accounting, restitution, and damages for the unlawful acquisition of more than P5 million worth of vehicles as well as household appliances registered under the name of Timbol, a former photographer of Marcos Sr.’s mother and one of the alleged cronies of the family.

Timbol was accused of enriching himself through his connection with the Marcoses.

The case was filed by the PCGG on 30 July 1987, and was part of over 40 civil lawsuits lodged by the government against the Marcos couple, all seeking to recover the alleged amassed ill-gotten wealth.

Two years after the filing of the case, Marcos Sr. passed away in September 1989 and was since represented by his heirs, Imelda, Senator Imee Marcos, Irene Araneta, and namesake, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Some of the civil cases were already dismissed by the Sandiganbayan due to the long-delayed inaction of the PCGG and OSG to present evidence and resolve the same.

As for Civil Case 0032, both the PCGG and the OSG have approved deeming the case closed and terminated since the properties sought to be recovered had already been turned over to the PCGG.

However, the Sandiganbayan argued that it cannot simply abide by the consensus and disregard procedural rules since the complaint includes a claim for actual, moral, temperate, nominal, and exemplary damages.

“In the face of plaintiff's failure to prosecute its action for an unreasonable length of time, this Court is constrained to dismiss the present complaint against defendant Imelda R. Marcos pursuant to Section 3 of Rule 17,” the court said.

“As borne by the records, the present complaint against defendant Spouses Marcos was neglected and forgotten, left pending and unresolved in the Court's docket,” it added.

The People Power Revolution toppled Marcos Sr.’s regime in February 1986, forcing him to flee into exile in Hawaii with his family.

The PCGG, through the orders of his successor, the late Corazon Aquino, went after their ill-gotten wealth that was amassed during his two-decade rule.

After their return to the Philippines, the former First Lady was indicted on several criminal and civil cases.

In November 2018, the Sandiganbayan found her guilty of seven counts of graft and sentenced her to a minimum of 42 years in prison for diverting over $200 million in government funds to private foundations in Switzerland while she was a government official during her husband’s tenure from 1968 to 1986.

At the time, she was 89 years old. Currently, the former First Lady remains out of prison while appealing her conviction.