MANILA - The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the P200 billion civil suit filed by the government against former President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, their children Irene and Ferdinand, Jr. and a certain Constante Rubio.

In a decision released to the parties Monday, the 4th division of the anti-graft court said Civil Suit No. 0002 was dismissed “for failure of the plaintiff to prove its allegations by preponderance of evidence.”

The decision was penned by Division Chairperson Alex Quiroz, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega and Maryann Corpus-Manalac.

The decision is 58 pages long, with a 38-page separate concurring opinion from Corpus-Manalac.

The case was filed by the Office of the Solicitor General in 1987 and was amended in 1990.

Aside from P200 billion damages for the recovery of an estimated P250 million ill-gotten wealth, the Presidential Commission on Good Government had also sought P50 billion in moral damages, P1 billion exemplary damages, and attorneys’ fees.

• Court to decide next on Marcos' P200-B ill-gotten wealth case