THE Sandiganbayan has dropped the Southern Luzon Coconut Oil Mills (SolCom) and former United Coconut Oil Mills Inc. (Unicom) governing board director Douglas Lu Ym as defendants in Civil Case No. 0033-D, one of the eight sub-divided coconut levy cases.
In a resolution issued November 4, 2024, the anti-graft court’s Second Division held that the inaction on the part of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in pursuing the legal action for more than 20 years after the pre-trial process constitutes unreasonable delay.
“After judicious examination of the records and submissions of the parties in this case, the Court finds that there was inordinate delay on the conduct of proceedings in violation of the movants’ right to due process and speedy disposition of cases, which warrants the dismissal of the complaint against them,” the Sandiganbayan said.
The original complaint docketed as Civil Case No. 0033 was filed in July 1987 before it was sub-divided into eight cases, designated as Civil Case Nos. 0033-A to 0033-H.
Civil Case No. 0033-D concerns the alleged disadvantageous purchase by Unicom of 16 coconut oil mill companies and the settlement of the obligations of seven of them using the coconut levy funds which was collected from coconut farmers.
The PCGG sought imposition of damages against the respondents in addition to the recovery of the cost of the purchase of the 16 coconut oil mill companies totaling P184.93 million and the assumed obligations amounting to P805.984 million.
Based on records, the SolCom filed its answer to the allegations in the original complaint on September 10, 1993, while Lu Ym submitted his answer on July 16, 1999, addressing the imputations in the Third Amended Complaint for CC No. 0033-D.
The government, as plaintiff, filed its pre-trial brief on June 23, 2000 and the Sandiganbayan issued the Pre-Trial Order on July 5, 2000.
Even so, the start of the trial remained suspended for 15 years prompting businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. to move for dismissal of the case on April 30, 2015, citing the government’s “failure to prosecute the case for an unreasonable length of time.” This was denied by the Sandiganbayan in a resolution issued on April 18, 2017.
Unhappy with the ruling, Cojuangco filed a Petition for Prohibition before the Supreme Court on July 18, 2019 asking that the Sandiganbayan be barred from hearing Civil Case Nos. 0033-B, 0033-C, 0033-D, 0033-G, and 0033-H in light of the fact that they have remained unmoving for 32 years.
In a decision dated April 28, 2021, the Supreme Court granted Cojuangco’s petition and ordered the five sub-divided coconut levy cases dismissed as against him only as principal defendant.
In their motion, SolCom and Lu Ym argued that they are similarly situated as Cojuangco hence, the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2019 should likewise apply to them based on the violation of their right to due process and speedy disposition of cases.
The Sandiganbayan noted that in its July 11, 2024 Comment, the plaintiff did not deny the defendants’ assertion that the proceedings in the case have been delayed.
“Indeed, more than 37 years is far too long for this case to remain pending without commencing trial proper. Given the inordinate delay of over 24 years from the time the pre-trial proceedings have been terminated, the incessant failure to proceed to trial proper, and the plaintiff’s clear failure to provide sufficient justifications thereof, the civil case filed against herein movants should be abated and dismissed,” the court said.
