It’s final: Cojuangco’s SMC shares not ill-gotten

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court affirmed with finality its April 12 decision stating that the 20 percent share holdings in San Miguel Corporation (SMC) of businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco is not ill-gotten.

High court Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the justices voted to dismiss the motion for reconsideration filed by petitioners Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and petitioner-intervenors Jovito Salonga, Wigberto Tanada, Oscar Santos, Virgilio Davide, Romeo Royandayan and several others.

Petitioners argued in their appeal that contrary to the findings of the high court, the Cojuangco shares should be re-conveyed to the government as they were purchased in 1983 through funds from the United Coconut Planters’ Bank and the Coconut Industry Investment Fund’s oil mills—both repositories of coco levy funds.

Marquez said the petitioners failed to raise any new issue that would warrant a reversal of its April 12 ruling.

Last April 12, the high court said the 20-percent share is not part of the coco levy funds of the Philippine government.

The high court said the government failed to establish the preponderance of evidence showing that the shares were illegally acquired.

“Republic’s burden to establish by preponderance of evidence that respondents’ SMC shares had been illegally acquired with coconut levy funds was not discharged,” the high court said.

The high court, in the decision penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, also affirmed the Sandiganbayan’s decision lifting and setting aside the writ of sequestration affecting the block of shares.