AGOTE, DULCE RHODORA B.

JD I-E

SHERIFF ALBERT DELA CRUZ OF THE SANDIGANBAYAN SECURITY and SHERIFF SERVICES, THE
SANDIGANBAYAN SECURITY AND SHERIFF SERVICES, petitioners vs. WELLEX GROUP, INC.,
respondent (G.R. No. 247439. August 23, 2023)

FACTS OF THE CASE:

The case involves a dispute between Sheriff Albert A. Dela Cruz and the Sandiganbayan Security
and Sheriff Services (SSSS) as petitioners, and Wellex Group,Inc., as respondent. The dispute is over the
ownership of 450,000,000 shares of stock of the Waterfront Philippines, Inc. (Waterfront Shares) between
the State and Wellex Group, Inc. (Wellex). Waterfront Shares were part of the ill-gotten wealth of former
President Joseph Ejercito Estrada which were forfeited in favor of the State after he was convicted of the
crime of Plunder. On February 4, 2000, Wellex borrowed P500,000,000.00 from Equitable-PCI Bank (now
Banco de Oro) using the Waterfront Shares as collateral. The state, as the subrogee of the bank, sought to
recover the Waterfront Shares when Wellex failed to settle the loan as the loan obligation matured on
January 29, 2001. A Resolution was issued directing Sheriff Urieta to cause the forfeiture of Waterfront
Shares, in favor of the State. Wellex then sought intervention over the Plunder Case and filed a motion for
reconsideration of the 2008 Sandiganbayan Resolution arguing the Waterfront Shares to be excluded from
the forfeiture order but such reconsideration was denied on April 2, 2009. Wellex then filed a Complaint for
Recovery of Possession, Delivery of Stock Certificates and Injunction (Complaint) with the Regional Trial
Court, which was docketed as Civil Case No. 09-399, over which, Sheriff Urieta and the SSSS, and BDO
filed their respective Motions to Dismiss on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a cause of
action, RTC granted the Motion to Dismiss on January 9, 2012. Wellex then filed a Petition for Review on
Certiorari with the Court assailing the 2012 RTC and 2014 RTC Resolution, and in its Decision on April
20,2016, the Court granted Wellex’s Petition. Consequently, in the 2016 Decision, the Court remanded the
case to the RTC for “further proceedings”. Hence, the petitioners Sheriff Albert A. Dela Cruz and the SSSS
filed the present Petition for Review on Certiorari before the Court.

ISSUES:

• Whether or not the Petition for Certiorari was filed out of time?
• Whether or not the RTC erred in interpreting the phrase “further proceedings” in the Court’s
previous Decision as a mandate to proceed with a new trial?
• Whether or not the RTC erred in upholding Wellex’s claim of prescription
RULING:

Petition for Review was not filed out of time because it was filed within the reglementary period.
The Regional Trial Court proceeded with the trial because the phrase “further proceedings” in the Court’s
previous Decision did not contemplate to proceed with a new trial, the Court was simply referring to proper
execution proceedings. Subsequently, the Trial court erred in upholding Wellex’s defense of prescription.
Section 15, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution expressly states that “the right of the State to recover
properties unlawfully acquired by public officials or employees, from them or from their nominees or
transferees, shall not be barred by prescription, laches, or estoppel”.

WHEREFORE, the Petition for Review is PARTIALLY GRANTED. The Decision, dated May 16,
2019, of Branch 132, Regional Trial Court, Makati City, in Civil Case No. 09-399, is REVERSED. The
Complaint for Recovery of Possession, delivery of Stock Certificates and Injunction with Application for
Temporary Restraining Order and Writ of Preliminary Injunction filed by respondent Wellex Group, Inc. is
DISMISSED.