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38 YEARS LATER, SANDIGANBAYAN REMEMBERS IT HAS A JOB: ARGANA BILLIONS FINALLY FORFEITED (PCGG TRAITORS STILL ON PENSION)

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Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

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38 YEARS LATER, SANDIGANBAYAN REMEMBERS IT HAS A JOB: ARGANA BILLIONS FINALLY FORFEITED (PCGG TRAITORS STILL ON PENSION)
To Every Congressman Hiding Kickbacks in Flood-Control Insertions: Your Grandkids Just Got the Memo

By Louis ‘Barok’ C Biraogo — November 27, 2025

MABUHAY, Pilipinas! After four decades of foreplay, the Sandiganbayan has at last declared 224 prime lots, five corporations, and a mountain of stock certificates belonging to the late Marcos-era Muntinlupa Mayor Maximino Argana as ill-gotten wealth and ordered them forfeited to the State. Took long enough for the courts to move faster than tectonic plates.

THE GREATEST (ALMOST) LEGAL HEIST IN ALABANG HISTORY: THE 1998 “COMPROMISE” THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN LAW SCHOOL AS “HOW NOT TO DO YOUR JOB”

Let us relive the masterpiece: In 1998, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) — the agency created precisely to recover Marcos loot — sat down with the Argana heirs and agreed to a 75–25 split. Sounds fair, right? Wrong.

The government’s 75% consisted of 361 hectares of agricultural land soon to be sliced up under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Market value in 1998? A pathetic ₱3.6 million. The Arganas’ 25%? Prime, already rezoned, ready-to-be-Ayala Alabang real estate worth at least ₱4 billion in 1998 pesos. The Supreme Court itself later called this abomination a “virtual sell-out” (Republic v. Argana, G.R. No. 147227, 28 Jan 2004). Even Fidel Ramos signed it. Even the Sandiganbayan originally approved it. And then — miracle of miracles — it got rescinded in 2000 when less corrupt lawyers finally read the fine print.

Six PCGG officials, led by then-Chairman Magtanggol Gunigundo, were found administratively liable by then-Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales in 2015 for grave misconduct. Criminal charges for violation of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act)? Still zero. They’re probably sipping cappuccino in some gated village right now.

The only thing faster than tectonic plates? Sandiganbayan’s ‘urgent’ calendar.

RA 1379 STILL HAS FANGS – WHEN IT BOTHERS TO BITE

For the slow readers at the back: Republic Act No. 1379 creates a presumption that any property “manifestly disproportionate” to a public officer’s salary and other lawful income is ill-gotten. Burden shifts to the family to explain.

The Arganas’ combined lawful income 1964–1986: approximately ₱735,000. Cost of properties acquired during the same period: approximately ₱5.87 million (1970s–1980s values). Their explanation after 38 years of litigation:

This year, the Supreme Court in the Ligot case reminded everyone that putting titles in the names of your children, in-laws, or the family dog does not shield ill-gotten wealth. Nominee arrangements are legally worthless. Compare that to the Renato Corona forfeiture case — dismissed because the family actually produced documents. The Arganas produced nothing except entitlement.

A NUCLEAR WARNING TO EVERY FLOOD-CONTROL INSERTION GANGSTER AND PORK-BARREL PRINCE

Message from the Sandiganbayan today: Civil forfeiture under RA 1379 has no prescription period. Your grandchildren can still lose the mall you built with kickbacks. Hide it in a corporation, a mistress, or a fake foundation — we will still come for it.

MANDATORY TO-DO LIST (BECAUSE APPARENTLY JUSTICE NEEDS A PROJECT MANAGER)

  1. File criminal cases against Gunigundo and his five cohorts tomorrow — RA 3019, plunder, the whole buffet.
  2. Create a Settlement Integrity Unit inside the Office of the Solicitor General and the Ombudsman. Every compromise involving public assets must require:
    • Independent appraisal
    • Full public disclosure of valuations
    • Mandatory publication for public comment
  3. Re-open every Marcos-era settlement that smells like this one. Start yesterday.

THE BOTTOM LINE (TWICE, BECAUSE I’M STILL ANGRY)

The Republic finally won. But the officials who almost gave away billions retired with full benefits. No one went to jail for the biggest inside job since the Marcoses left Malacañang. So yes, pop the champagne — the cheap kind. This wasn’t justice. This was the system tripping over its own incompetence and accidentally doing the right thing thirty-eight years late. Welcome to the Philippines: where even when we win, the crocodiles still get fat.

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Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

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