MANILA, Philippines - The family of former strongman Ferdinand Marcos has regained possession of a 25-hectare parcel of land in Cabuyao, Laguna 22 years after it was confiscated by the government.
 
In a 24-page resolution promulgated last January 11, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division ordered the Presidential Commission on Good Government to return the property to the Marcoses after ruling that the government has no valid claim to the land.

The PCGG was given no more than 30 days to fully comply with the court directive even as the Sandiganbayan ordered the Provincial Register of Deeds of Laguna to cancel the annotation of lis pendens over the title of the property upon receipt of the ruling.

The Canlubang Mansion was among several Marcos resthouses turned over by the Aquino administration under the care of the Department of Tourism in 1988 for “administration and maintenance."
 
Although the house and the land it is standing on were seized by the government supposedly as part of the Marcos assets it is claiming in Civil Case No. 0002, the property itself was not listed in the case as among the Marcos assets being claimed by the government.
 
Twelve years ago, government lawyers tried to remedy the situation by filing a “Fourth Amended Complaint" for Civil Case no. 0002 solely for including the Canlubang Mansion in the list.
 
But in a resolution dated September 2, 1998, the court denied the government motion. The PCGG did not even file an appeal and simply allowed the ruling to become final.

In ordering the Canlubang Mansion returned to the Marcoses, the court said the annotation of lis pendens on the property had no basis.
 
“The subject property is not a subject of this suit and, thus, is not subject to reversion and reconveyance. (T)he record shows that plaintiff has no claim over the subject property that needs to be protected. In fact the plaintiff has no actionable right over the subject property because the same is not involved in the instant case,” the Sandiganbayan pointed out.