The Supreme Court (SC) recently lifted the sequestration by the government of a 7,000-hectare cattle farm on Busuanga Island in Palawan believed to be owned by the late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Considered one of the largest cattle stations in Asia, the Busuanga cattle farm was originally known as the Yulo King Ranch (YKR) controlled by suspected Marcos cronies Peter Sabido and Luis Yulo.

The lifting of the 24-year-old sequestration order against YKR was mainly due to mismanagement by the government, represented by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).

In a 20-page decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, the SC directed the PCGG and BAI to return the ownership of the ranch to Yulo’s heirs and their associates pending resolution of the main forfeiture case pending before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan.

The High Court granted the petition filed by YKR Corp., represented by Yulo’s heirs and their associates, seeking to lift the writ of sequestration issued by the PCGG against the ranch in 1986.

It said the PCGG has been remiss in its duty to prevent the dissipation of the farm’s assets being the conservator of sequestered properties of the Marcoses and their cronies.

The SC also chided the PCGG and BAI after it took them almost a decade to comply with its 1996 directive to submit an inventory and accounting of the corporation’s assets, which include livestock, supplies, structures, equipment and spare parts.

“The Court deplores the fact that it took nine years for the PCGG and BAI to submit an inventory and accounting of YKR Corp.’s assets. The inventory and accounting was long overdue considering that YKR Corp. was sequestered in 1986. The PCGG should always be mindful of its role as a conservator of the property sequestered, frozen or provisionally taken,” the court said.

The court also could not hide its disappointment after seeing the inventory report submitted by the government.

It noted that when BAI took over the management of YKR Corp. in 1986, the ranch had 75,477 cattle and 115 horses.

By 1992 or six years after, YKR Corp. had 3,137 cattle and 57 horses. The cattle and horse population further decreased to 2,621 and 69, respectively, in 2004.

As of 2005, there were only 2,565 cattle and 76 horses left in the ranch, the court noted.

In its explanation, the BAI cited “the dispersal of animals and animal mortalities” are the reasons for the reduction in the cattle population.

But the court said there was nothing in the report that would show that the dispersal of animal and animal mortalities were documented or supported by records.

“The compliance by the PCGG and BAI painted a bleak picture of the state of corporation. In order to prevent the wastage of the assets of the YKR Corp., the Court deems it proper to lift the writ of sequestration pending the final resolution of the main case before the Sandiganbayan,” the court said.

The court, however, clarified that the lifting of the sequestration order does not prevent the PCGG from pursuing its case before the Sandiganbayan.

According to the PCGG, which represents the government in Civil Case 0024 before the anti-graft court, Sabido and Yulo were mere dummies of Marcos and the YKR Corp. formed part of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.

Besides Marcos, Sabido and Yulo, also named as defendants in the P51-billion civil complaint were former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, Roberto Benedicto, Nicolas Dehesa, Jose R. Tengco Jr, Rafael Sison, Cesar Zalamea and Don Ferry.

Based on Yulo’s submission in the case, the cattle farm was initially a public estate least to YKR Corp. with a developed area of 7,000 hectares and some 120 titled hectares acquired from private persons.

Yulo said the administration and control of the ranch was voluntarily transferred by YKR Corp. to the BAI in 1986 immediately after the first people power revolution that toppled the Marcos regime.