Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Diosdado Peralta has recently inhibited himself from the following cases:

Republic of the Philippines v. Ferdinand Marcos, et al - The case involves various foundations allegedly formed by the Marcoses and their agents and successors. The government sought the forfeiture of their assets on the ground that they are ill-gotten.

In September 2000, the First Division of the Sandiganbayan granted a government motion for summary judgment on the five foundations included in the petition. But on January 31, 2002, the court reversed itself.

However, the Supreme Court set aside the decision and ordered the summary judgment of the case. This new development pushed the government to seek a summary judgment on the Arelma Foundation, whose account is reportedly overseen by Merill Lynch, a New York-based brokerage firm.

Peralta inhibited himself after he discovered that his wife, then assistant solicitor general and now appellate court justice, actively prosecuted the case.

People of the Philippines vs. Pedro F. Cuerpo et al – Peralta inhibited himself from this case after “the lawyers of the private complainants requested it.” The private complainants include six irked residents of the town in Rodriguez, Rizal, who asked for the suspension of the town Mayor Pedro Cuerpo for allegedly ordering the demolition of their homes.

The Sandiganbayan initially moved for Cuerpo’s suspension in October 2008, but the embattled mayor filed a motion for reconsideration which was raffled off to the First Division. But Peralta inhibited himself after the private complainants raised concerns that he would decide in favor of Cuerpo, a known Malacañang ally.

Recent decisions:

The first division, chaired by Peralta, reversed an earlier July 18 resolution which found probable cause in the graft charges filed by the Ombudsman against former justice Secretary Hernando “Nani” Perez.

The first division approved Perez’s motion to quash the charges after a “second look” showed that the case could not constitute a violation of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act because there is no contract involved.

Peralta also penned the decisions on two civil cases regarding the coco levy funds in November last year – one which awarded 20 percent of the San Miguel Corp. shares to Marcos crony Danding Cojuangco Jr., and another one which upheld 72.2 percent of the shares in the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) as public funds.

The ruling on the 20 percent shares came three years after the court, in a partial summary judgment, declared that the 27 percent SMC shares registered under the Coconut Industry Investment Fund belong to the government.

Peralta, in his ponencia, pointed out that 20 percent of the shares are owned by Cojuangco because the Philippine Commission on Good Government, which recovers the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses, failed to prove that Cojuangco used the coco levy funds to acquire the said shares.