G.R. No. 185800 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. EDUARDO COJUANGCO, JR., FERDINAND E. MARCOS, IMELDA R. MARCOS, THE HEIRS OF ERNESTO O. ESCALER, AND ERNEST ESCALER.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, such actions of the Sandiganbayan constitute grave abuse of discretion and as a result, the said hearing tribunal loses its jurisdiction to conduct further proceedings in the subject cases, which petitioner rightly prayed for in the present Petition for Prohibition. Lastly, the Court has no doubt that the Republic, through the generations of leadership that had the duty and privilege to handle these cases, had all the resources to pursue cases of corruption and ill-gotten wealth. Also, the Court is not so naive to know that these cases are met with various challenges given that those who may be its defendants are not ordinary individuals without their own share of immense resources and power. However, the inordinate delay in this case especially the long periods where no pre-trial orders were issued or no trial was calendared may have made the situation worse for the respondents. Memories fade, documents and other exhibits can be lost and vulnerability of those who are tasked to decide increase with the passing of years. All these pales in comparison to the infringement of rights; the resources of the government especially and also of the respondents may have been wasted; and significantly, the faith of our people in the ability of the respondents to identify, prove, and recover alleged ill-gotten wealth. [36] (Citations omitted.) Thus, the dispositive reads as follows: WHEREFORE, the Petition is GRANTED. A Writ of Prohibition is hereby issued ENJOINING the Sandiganbayan from taking further proceedings in Civil Case Nos. 0033-B, 0033-C, 0033-D, 0033-E, 0033-G, and 0033-H. An ORDER is hereby issued DISMISSING the said cases for violation of the constitutional rights to due process and speedy disposition of cases of petitioner Eduardo M. Cojuangco, Jr., the principal defendant therein. SO ORDERED.