State's right to recover properties unlawfully acquired

The right of the State to recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials or employees, from them or from their nominees or transferees, shall not be barred by prescription, laches, or estoppel. (Sec. 15, Art. XI, The 1987 Philippine Constitution) The intendment of the foregoing constitutional provision -- exempting actions to recover ill-gotten wealth from the operation of the general rules of prescription -- presumably lies in the special attendant circumstances and the primordial state interests involved in cases of such nature. (G.R. No. 157438, October 18, 2004)