MANILA, Philippines - Businessman Lucio Tan wants the anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan,
to dismiss the Philippine Commission on Good Government's (PCGG) petition to forfeit his assets,
saying the state has insufficient evidence to prove its allegations of ill-gotten wealth.

In a 130-page appeal filed by his chief legal counsel lawyer Estelito Mendoza on Thursday, Tan objected to the Sandiganbayan's admission of PCGG's documentary exhibits.

He said majority of these were mere photocopies, and the originals were not presented for inspection by the parties.

The PCGG is claiming some 60% of Tan’s holdings in his companies.

These include stakes in Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery Inc., Allied Banking Corp., Foremost Farms, Himmel Industries Inc., Grandspan Development Corp., Silangan Holdings Inc., Dominium Realty and Construction Corp. and Shareholdings Inc.

Aside from the PCGG, the family of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, is also staking their claim
over the same assets, insisting that Tan simply acted as Marcos’ nominee.

After languishing in the courts for 22 years, the Sandiganbayan ordered government lawyers to terminate their presentation of evidence last February 12, after repeatedly failing to present witnesses whose testimonies were supposed to be crucial to the state’s case,  including former First Lady Imelda Marcos.

Mendoza said that not one of almost 300 documents marked by lawyers of the PCGG, and the Office of
the Solicitor General supports the government’s allegation that the disputed assets formerly belonged to it.

“Not any of the exhibits have been offered to show that those assets formed part of the vast resources of the government, or that they belong to the government or any of its branches, instrumentalities,enterprises, banks, or financial institutions which were amassed or acquired by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos and/or the defendants as his close associates”, said Mendoza.

Mendoza also challenged the relevance of exhibits presented in connection with Allied Bank’s
acquisition of General Bank and Trust Co. in 1976. He said both the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme
Court already upheld the legality of the deal.

In addition he asked the court to disallow all photocopies, owing to the failure of the government to establish that the primary source were no longer obtainable.

“The original copies of exhibits are the best evidence to prove the alleged obligation. Photocopies thereof are mere secondary evidence. As such, they are inadmissible because plaintiff… failed to prove, in relation to each exhibit, any of the exceptions…as well as  the condition of their admissibility. Absent such proof, the alleged photocopies in the absence  of originals, are inadmissible,” Mendoza stressed.

On the deposition of Rolando Gapud, an alleged crony Marcos, Mendoza said the document has as
much value as a hearsay testimony. He said Gapud was never asked to testify in court to authenticate
his statements.

“It bears emphasis that Rolando Gapud did not testify in the instant case, defendants never had
the opportunity to confront and cross-examine him.”