G.R. No. 119292 , July 31, 1998.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES represented by the PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD GOVERNMENT, petitioner, vs. SANDIGANBAYAN, IMELDA COJUANGCO, THE ESTATE OF RAMON COJUANGCO represented by IMELDA COJUANGCO, and PRIME HOLDINGS, INC., respondents.

FACTS

The case involves a sequestration order issued by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). The concurring opinion of Justice Bellosillo addresses the nature and constitutional limitations of the sequestration process. The PCGG sequestered shares of stock registered in the name of a stockholder. The constitutional requirement under Section 26, Article XVIII of the 1987 Constitution mandates that for a sequestration or freeze order, a corresponding judicial action or proceeding must be filed within six months from the order’s issuance (or from the Constitution’s ratification for pre-ratification orders). If no such action is filed within this period, the sequestration order is deemed automatically lifted.

ISSUE

Whether a sequestration order should be automatically lifted if the PCGG fails to file the corresponding judicial action or proceeding within the six-month period prescribed by the Constitution.

RULING

Yes. The concurring opinion emphasizes that sequestration is a severe, extraordinary, and harsh remedy. The constitutional framers imposed the six-month period to file a judicial action to prevent indefinite sequestration, avoid excesses by PCGG agents, and protect property rights from undue invasion. The provision is clear: if no judicial action is commenced within six months, the sequestration order is automatically lifted. In this case, where shares were sequestered but no judicial action was filed against the stockholder of record within the prescribed period, the sequestration must be lifted immediately. To allow it to continue would violate constitutional due process, as sequestration cannot be permitted to hang interminably over property.