MANILA – A Philippine lawmaker on Friday said he is concerned about the statement of Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo that seemed to imply that the P203 billion estate tax case of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s family can still be reopened.

An Inquirer report noted that on Wednesday, Gesmundo said “no decision is set in stone” when asked whether cases that had been decided with finality, such as that of the Marcoses, could still be reopened.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman said the chief magistrate’s statement was “alarming.”

"That statement of the Supreme Court Justice would really abandon a well-settled principle on res judicata or the conclusiveness of judgment. When a matter has been resolved or adjudicated by a competent court with finality, the parties cannot pursue any further option,” he explained.

The lawmaker also said the move would go against the doctrine of laches.

"When a party does not take any action due to lack of diligence to claim a legal right, then time would set in to prevent such party from resurrecting or claiming such right at a future time.”

Lagman said reopening the Marcos estate tax case might set a precedent that would make litigations in the country interminable or endless.

He also stressed that the Marcos estate tax case has been litigated for so long already.

“The Marcoses were given enough time to challenge the final assessment, and most probably, in these cases which they have filed, they really articulated what they wanted to say in their defense, and after more than a quarter of a century—no, no, almost a quarter of a century, I don’t think this case can be reopened,” he said.

“The motions for reconsideration filed by the Marcoses as well as their petition before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court gave them that opportunity to ventilate their position, and they were all junked or denied by the judiciary,” he added.

Marcos Jr. said that his family’s tax case should be opened, after the Bureau of Internal Revenue sent them a demand letter to pay their estate tax dues which has ballooned from about P23 billion in 1997 to P203 billion.

• 'Open the case and let us argue': Marcos Jr. on P203 billion unpaid estate tax

"We were never allowed to argue because when this case came out, we were all in the US. So when it was the time for us to answer, we had no chance to answer because we were nakakulong (detained) in Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii," he said.

Lagman said, however, that the best thing Marcos can do now is pay his family’s taxes.

“If I were the president now, I would have to comply with the final decision to tell the people that I submit to the rule of law, and to tell the people that the taxes are the lifeblood of the nation, and taxpayers should pay their correct taxes,” he said.

--ANC, 28 May 2022