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Elizabeth Marcelo - The Philippine Star
January 16, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign currency deposits in foreign banks are covered by bank secrecy laws and cannot be attached or seized by the government as part of a probe on ill-gotten wealth, the Sandiganbayan has ruled, in a case involving Swiss deposits held in escrow of a brother of former first lady Imelda Marcos.
The Sandiganbayan denied the bid of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) for the court to seize the joint bank deposits of former ambassador Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez and his wife Juliette held in escrow in the Philippine National Bank (PNB) since 1999.
The PCGG is seeking to forfeit in favor of the government a total of $5,193,726.37 in alleged illegally amassed wealth supposedly concealed in Swiss bank deposits by the Romualdez couple – parents of former House speaker Martin Romualdez.
In a resolution promulgated yesterday, the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division denied the PCGG’s application for an issuance of writ of preliminary attachment over the escrowed account, with a balance of P410.012 million.
The court said the subject bank account is covered by the “secrecy of foreign currency deposits” provision under Section 8 of Republic Act 6426 or the Foreign Currency Deposit Act.
“Section 8 of the FCDA expressly provides that all foreign currency deposits authorized under the FCDA shall be exempt from attachment,” the court said.
A writ of attachment would allow the court to seize a property or an account while a case is pending to prevent its disposal by the respondent.
In its application, the PCGG, represented in court by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), said the issuance of the writ of preliminary attachment “is necessary and essential to ensure that the ill-gotten wealth remains within the Court’s reach pending final judgment.”
“Their deliberate concealment of the said amounts abroad from Philippine authorities shows the intent to evade a local suit for forfeiture proceedings, and justifies the issuance of the writ prayed for,” the OSG, representing the PCGG, said.
But the court said: “Although there are laws that allow certain government agencies or bodies to inquire into or examine foreign currency deposits covered by the FCDA even without the written permission of the depositor, the subject amount placed in escrow with the PNB does not fall under the provisions of the said laws that operate as exceptions to the application of Section 8 of the FCDA.”
The Sixth Division pointed out that even if the account is not attached, there are safeguards to ensure that the funds are not disposed of pending the judgment in the forfeiture case.
“The Escrow Agreement itself provides that the escrow funds may not be disposed without a final and enforceable judgment of the Sandiganbayan or of any competent court in the Philippines; or without the written and identical instructions received from both Spouses Romualdez and the Government of the Philippines, as represented by the PCGG; or without instructions from the PCGG, as approved in principle by the Spouses Romualdez,” the Fifth Division said.
On June 18, 2018, the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division dismissed the wealth forfeiture suit against the Romualdez spouses, saying the ombudsman, which filed the case in 2011, “lacked jurisdiction.”
The Fourth Division cited Section 15 (11) of Republic Act 6770 or the Ombudsman Act of 1989, which states that while the ombudsman has the power to investigate, the authority to file civil forfeiture cases for wealth supposedly illegally amassed prior to Feb. 25, 1986 belongs to the OSG.
Thus, in its ruling, the Fourth Division said the dismissal of the case was “without prejudice to its re-filing by the Office of the Solicitor General.”
The OSG refiled the case late last year. It was raffled off to the Sixth Division.
The amount allegedly forms part of the spouses’ unexplained wealth during the late Romualdez’s term as governor of Leyte and as ambassador to China, Saudi Arabia and Washington.
The PCGG earlier said that Romualdez had a net worth of only P2.348 million in 1983 based on his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.
PCGG investigators traced the bank deposits in December 1998 after Zurich, Switzerland district attorney Peter Cosandey ordered the release to the Philippine government of all “assets, bonds and other financial instruments” pertaining to Romualdez.
