MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan's Second Division dismissed a civil case against the Marcoses, finding that their right to speedy case disposition was violated.

In a 30-page resolution promulgated on Oct. 4, 2024, the court granted the motion to dismiss filed by former first lady Imelda Marcos and the heirs of the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

"As for the reason for the delay, it started with the defective complaint which led to the filing of the bill of particulars and the dismissal of the case against the Estate of Ferdinand Marcos in a Resolution dated Oct. 25, 2012. This resolution was reversed by the Supreme Court but it excluded the Estate of Ferdinand Marcos from paragraphs 9, 12(a), 12(b), 12(c), and 12(e) of the Expanded Complaint, without prejudice to the standing valid effect of paragraph 12(d) or the Pinugay Estate", the court said.

"Scrutiny of the chronology of events in this case shows a plethora of motions for extension filed due to unpreparedness or lack of witnesses/documentary evidence, aside from pending incidents, and scheduled pre-trial cancellations contributing to the inordinate delay. Thus far, there has been no pre-trial in this case and the trial has not even started. A long period of time has elapsed without the defendants having their case tried", the court said.

The court also said that the plaintiff did not oppose the motion to dismiss.

"In fact, the plaintiff tends to agree with the dismissal of the case when it emphasizes that there are no more allegations against the Estate of Marcos.... It said that the Pinugay Estate alluded to in paragraph 12(d) was not included in Annex A of the Complaint", the court said.