MANILA — The Sandiganbayan dismissed a US$5.2-million (around ₱290.8 million) forfeiture case against Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez, his wife Juliette, and their heirs.

In a resolution dated March 19, the Sixth Division granted the ad cautelam Motion to Dismiss filed by the Romualdez heirs in Civil Case No. SB-25-CVL-0001, originally filed in November 2025. The court cited the principle of non-interference with a co-equal division that had already ruled on the same funds.

“Regardless of whether the Fourth Division correctly ruled on the matter before it, or whether it had jurisdiction to do so, this Court, being co-equal with the Fourth Division, and without the authority to annul its acts, cannot interfere in the said ruling, respecting the doctrine of non-interference,” the Sandiganbayan said.

The Sixth Division noted that the US$5 million in bank deposits had already been addressed by the Fourth Division in October and November 2025. Those earlier rulings in Civil Case No. SB-11-CVL-0003 ordered the release of US$5,193,726.37 in escrowed funds held at the Philippine National Bank to the Romualdez family.

In 2018, the government failed to appeal a June decision dismissing SB-11-CVL-0003, effectively waiving its right to pursue forfeiture, which allowed the dismissal to attain finality. The funds originated from accounts at Union Bank of Switzerland AG Geneva and were later placed in escrow with PNB.

The court said government prosecutors did not seek to nullify the Fourth Division’s rulings but instead filed a new forfeiture case in November 2025. Citing jurisprudence, the Sixth Division ruled that the proper remedy would have been to elevate the matter to a higher court rather than ask a coequal tribunal to overturn existing decisions.

“Petitioner Republic is effectively asking this Court to interfere in… the Fourth Division’s resolution… [but] the remedy is… a higher court with the authority to nullify” the ruling, the Sandiganbayan said.

The court clarified that the dismissal does not prevent the government from pursuing a petition before the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which seeks to stop the release of the funds.

“SB-25-CVL-0001 is hereby dismissed, without prejudice to its re-filing in the event that the Supreme Court nullifies the Fourth Division’s resolutions dated October 3, 2025 and November 14, 2025,” the decision added.