From P1B to P100M: SC reduces damages in Disini-BNPP case

From P1B to P100M: SC reduces damages in Disini-BNPP case

The Supreme Court has reduced from P1 billion to P100 million the amount of temperate damages that a crony of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. must pay for brokering the 1974 deal behind the now mothballed $2.3-billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

In a 12-page resolution dated Aug. 29, 2023, but published only on Tuesday, the Supreme Court en banc denied with finality the government’s motion for reconsideration on the 2021 decision that directed the estate of the late Herminio Disini to pay damages for illegally profiting from the BNPP project awarded to Westinghouse Electric Corp.

In 2021, the high court unanimously partially granted the petition of Disini that challenged the Sandiganbayan’s 2012 decision ordering him to return to the state almost $50.6 million, or P2.4 billion, in commissions that he earned for facilitating the anomalous contract.

However, the high tribunal at the time said Disini, who died in 2014, should only pay P1 billion in temperate damages and P1 million in exemplary damages.

According to the Supreme Court, the Sandiganbayan erred when it relied on a photocopied document supposedly showing that Disini received $50 million in commissions.

No objection

In its motion for reconsideration, the state insisted that the Sandiganbayan’s reliance on the document was proper “because even though the original document was not presented, its admission was not objected to by petitioner who was a party in default.”

While Disini did not object to the admission of the said document, the Supreme Court reiterated its position that the Sandiganbayan “still cannot validly admit incompetent evidence.”

“Since the total figure derived from the exhibit was not supported by any competent evidence, the Court cannot base the amount on such figure as prayed for by the Republic,” the high court said in its latest resolution.

In its comment, the

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