STATE lawyers have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to allow the government to sell its stake in San Miguel Corporation soon to cut its losses in the wake of depreciation of said shares in the stock market.
 
In a comment to the manifestation submitted by the Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc. (Cocofed), Solicitor General and Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said the government is agreeing to the proposal to sell its 24-percent stake in the food conglomerate in a bid to preserve the shares at its premium price.

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“It is undisputed that there has been a substantial depreciation in the stock market of said shares and one way by which the value of said shares may be preserved is their immediate sale at premium price and the proceeds of which shall be deposited in an escrow account,” she said.
 
Devanadera said that while it is unfortunate that Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc. has withdrawn its offer to purchase the subject shares, the government is obliged to pursue its sale having been declared by the Sandiganbayan as owned by the government in trust for all the coconut farmers.
 
“Despite Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc.’s withdrawal of the offer to purchase the CIIF SMC shares, respondent (Republic of the Philippine Philippines) explores the feasibility of selling the subject CIIF SMC shares under terms and conditions most advantageous to the government,” she added.
 
Top Frontier had earlier offered to buy the sequestered SMC shares in the names of 14 holding companies of the Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) in the amount of P56.5 billion.
 
The firm was compelled to withdraw their offer to purchase due to the recession and economic slowdown and the extreme difficulty to raise the substantial funds needed to purchase the subject CIIF SMC shares.
 
Cocofed, in its manifestation, told the SC that there are other parties who have expressed interest in acquiring the subject said.
 
Earlier, former Senators Jovito Salonga and Wigberto Tanada have asked the High Court to compel officials of SMC to explain whether the reported reduction of P54 billion coconut levy funds was due to the company’s series of business ventures.
 
Salonga and Tanada said the SMC should explain the funding sources and other commitments made by SMC involving its new acquisitions such as the Meralco and Petron shares, the reported venture into water via the Laiban Dam Project as well as into telecommunications via Qatar Telecom and even in mining.
 
They further claimed that Cocofed does not truly represent the interest of some 3.5 million coconut farmers who should be the beneficiaries of the sale of sequestered SMC shares.
 
Cocofed earlier claimed that they are the “true and actual beneficiaries” of the multibillion-peso coco levy funds.
 
Salonga, a former chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, an agency tasked to oversee the recovery of the alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and their cronies, insisted that the coconut farmers need to be apprised of how their claims for the coco levy funds would be affected by the SMC’s business forays.
 
He also asked the SC to turn down the motion of Cocofed seeking the approval of the proposed sale of the subject SMC shares.
 
The former lawmaker said that even the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has not accredited Cocofed as the legitimate national organization of coconut farmers.
 
In its motion to approve the proposed sale of the SMC shares, Cocofed said it is compelled to agree to the sale of the sequestered shares due to the continued depreciation in the stock market of SMC shares.
 
However, Salonga said the sale of the 753,848,312 shares should not be below P56.53 billion or an average price of P75 per share and that it should be sold to Top Frontier, which offered to purchase the SMC shares in its letter dated April 28, 2008 to Cocofed.
 
The PCGG has earlier announced that it intended to sell the SMC shares in a public auction, the proceeds from which will be used by government to rehabilitate the coconut industry.
 
Likewise among the sequestered assets are the UCPB shares of stock in six firms, namely: the United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Co., Cagayan de Oro Oil Company Inc. (Cagoil), Granexport Manufacturing Corporation (Granex), Iligan Coconut Industries Inc. (ILICOCO), Legaspi Oil Company Inc. (Legoil), and Southern Luzon Coconut Oil Mill Inv. (Solcom). (ECV/Sunnex)