Manila, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the reopening of the ill-gotten wealth case against former Bulacan congressman and Marcos crony Ricardo C. Silverio.

In a 17-page decision promulgated last August 25, the High Court directed a division of the Sandiganbayan that is hearing the 23-year-old case to allow the government to present additional evidence and recall witnesses against Silverio and his fellow defendants.

Acting on the petition of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the SC nullified the 2003 resolution of the anti-graft court’s Second Division denying the motion of the government to reopen the case for presentation of new evidence to support its allegations against Silverio.

Silverio is the principal defendant in Civil Case No. 0011 pending before the Sandiganbayan. Other defendants include former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, former first lady Imelda Marcos and the late Pablo P. Carlos Jr.

Filed in 1987, the civil case sought to recover ill-gotten wealth allegedly acquired by Silverio because of his close association with the Marcoses.

As former owner of Delta Motors Philippines Inc., Silverio was given a monopoly of the sale and assembly of cars, particularly Toyotas, during the Marcos regime.

The PCGG accused Silverio of obtaining “behest loans” from the Central Bank and then government-owned Philippine National Bank for his companies like Delta Motors and Filipinas Bank.

It also branded him as a mere front or dummy for the Marcoses in Meralco Securities and First Philippine Holdings Corp.

In October 2001, the government rested its case against Silverio after presenting five documentary evidence and two witnesses – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) employee Godofredo dela Paz and PCGG librarian Ma. Lourdes Magno.

However, in January 2002, the Sandiganbayan rejected four out of the five documentary evidence submitted by the government for being mere photocopies.

Among those rejected were certifications and correspondences signed by Silverio himself and were intended to show that he was granted accommodations by reason of his close association with the Marcoses.