Ruben Carranza, a former commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, said retired Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang is an expert on ill-gotten wealth, having worked on cases against the Marcoses when she was with the Office of the Solicitor General.
Carranza defended Cabotaje-Tang as an expert in ill-gotten wealth after Sen. Imee Marcos questioned the prosecution’s move to present her as a witness in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, since she would not be authenticating documents or testifying on factual matters.
Cabotaje-Tang was presented as a witness to discuss laws on public accountability.
Carranza chided Marcos, calling her “the other expert in ill-gotten wealth” as he cited the government’s cases to recover assets from her family.
In a Facebook post, Carranza said that before joining the Sandiganbayan, Cabotaje-Tang served as the Assistant Solicitor General whom he worked with in litigating the Supreme Court case that resulted in a declaration that the P150 billion coconut levy fund is a public fund for coconut farmers.
She was also involved in the case that resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that the only legitimate assets of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and Imelda Marcos was $304,372.
He said it was the same case used as the basis for the courts to rule that Imelda’s confiscated jewelry collection, paintings, and Arelma account were ill-gotten.
“And who are these beneficiaries who fought to keep all of their ill-gotten wealth despite the 2003, 2012, 2017 and 2019 court decisions and who also refuse to pay estate taxes due on this ill-gotten wealth? The Marcos children, including Bongbong Marcos and of course the other expert in ill-gotten wealth, Senator Imee R. Marcos,” he added.