Monday, June 02, 2008 Lopez should consider resigning: aide
CHIEF presidential legal counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol said Sunday that Manila Electric Company (Meralco) chairman Manolo Lopez should consider stepping down in light of the complaints faced by the electric company including allegations of mismanagement.
Apostol said only when the post becomes vacant can the new Meralco board members elect a new chairman.
"It really depends on Mr. Lopez. If he may wish to end suffering of their small stockholders, since the allegation is mismanagement, he should resign. His leadership is under investigation," he said.
He added that in all of these battles, both the management and legal questions, it is the small shareholders that suffer the most as it may lead to a drop in the value of the Meralco shares and a further erosion of the utility firm's leadership.
He said the longer the legal and management questions take, the more the smaller shareholders suffer.
Apostol said Meralco have earned a temporary relief in the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Court of Appeals (CA), but in the end they would still answer the pending issues like whether the proxy votes were genuine or fake.
He said Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president and chief executive officer Winston Garcia is not one to easily give up and he expects him to push or the scrutiny of the proxy votes which if proven that there are irregularities, could also lead to Lopez' losing his post.
He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would not intervene as she is leaving everything to Garcia and the GSIS, which is separate form the executive branch. He reiterated that it is an internal matter to GSIS and Garcia is only after the interests of the GSIS members.
On reports that Commission on Higher Education (Ched) chairman and economic team study group consultant Romulo Neri is being considered as a possible replacement for Lopez, Apostol said he would have to be elected by the board.
He added there also needs to be a vacancy first, in the seats occupied by government representatives in the 11-man Meralco board. (JMR/Sunnex)
