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Monday, March 29, 2004
Palace expects SEC, courts to approve Maynilad takeover
MANILA -- The Arroyo administration is confident that the proposed takeover of the Maynilad Water Services Inc. would be upheld by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the courts once they have studied the agreement.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a radio interview Sunday that aside from being the best solution to the water problem, particularly affecting the west zone of Metro Manila, the agreement is defensible.
He said the agreement is backed by the 1987 Constitution, particularly Article 12, Section 17 which states that "in times of national emergency, when the public interest so requires, the State may, during the emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately-owned public utility or business affected with public interest."
He added that nothing would stop the enforcement of the agreement.
Under the agreement, the Lopez and the Suez groups would surrender their stake at the Maynilad to the MWSS to reduce Maynilad's debts from P19 billion to P11 billion.
Banks with exposure to Maynilad also agreed to a debt-swap that would entitle them to a third of the company's equity, while the water firm's employees would be provided equity options under the Employee Share Ownership Plan (Esop).
The reorganization plan would also allow the government to privatize Maynilad in three years.
Bunye said Arroyo is prepared to face any suit slapped against her, if it is the price she has to pay for delivering services and solving the problems of her constituents.
Senatorial candidate Melanio Mauricio earlier filed a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman, accusing the President of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly allowing the bailout of the Lopez family-owned Benpres Holdings, Inc. from the ailing Maynilad.
Under the reorganization plan for Maynilad, the government will have a 61 percent stake in the water company, while the French firm Suez group shall own 30 percent.
Metrobank, which agreed to convert Maynilad's P3 billion debt to convertible and preferred stock, shall then have three percent, while employees of the water firm will own six percent.
Arroyo had said the debts incurred by the Maynilad Water Services Inc. would be paid through future earnings of the company and not by a government doleout or guarantee.
The President also stressed that the government has nothing to hide in the Maynilad takeover, noting that she will favor the opening of documents, if allowed by the court.
Judge Reynaldo Daway of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court has earlier ordered that Amendment No. 2 to the take-over agreement be sealed and made available only to creditors and concerned parties.
Public funds
Also on Sunday, Bunye reiterated that while no public funds are used in the campaign, Arroyo, being an incumbent president, must continue her job while she conducts her campaign.
Bunye issued the statement after he evaded the proposal of Alyansa ng Pag-Asa standard-bearer Raul Roco for President Arroyo to sign a covenant with other candidates on avoiding the misuse of government funds for their campaign.
Bunye explained that the premise of the proposal is wrong.
He said Arroyo is not the only incumbent official who is running for an elective position but noted that the candidates are able to continue their mandate without being suspected or accused of any irregularities.
He also thumbed down the claim of presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson that Arroyo may soon top the country's corruption record, stressing that the President herself had introduced anti-graft and corruption measures that were accepted and recognized by the World Bank (WB).
Bunye said the conduct of a lifestyle check and electronic bidding process is only among the measures, which he even described as "down payments."
He added that the anti-graft campaign of the Arroyo administration still has a long way to go and fighting corruption remains at the top of Arroyo's agenda, if given a fresh six-year mandate.
Bunye also chided the opposition, which now criticized the Transparency International after it included former presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada among the alleged top corrupt leaders.
He said the opposition used to laud the Transparency International, but they are now singing a different tune after it included Estrada among the most corrupt leaders in the world.
'Candidate to beat'
Meanwhile, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay said the "premature charges" against Arroyo have the stigma of dirty partisan politics resorted to by rivals in desperate attempts to bring her down.
Pichay said the Maynilad bailout issue and a flurry of other charges orchestrated against President Arroyo only show that she is indeed the candidate to beat in the May 10 elections.
He is confident that inquiries conducted by the courts and other concerned entities will soon expose the unrelenting accusations against the President "for the harassment suits that they really are."
He told Sun.Star that premature charges against the President like the one on the government proposal to take over the Maynilad Water Services Inc. have the stigma of dirty partisan politics resorted to by rivals in desperate attempts to bring her down.
"Their resorting to black propaganda and other desperate moves is undisguised admission that they consider GMA the candidate to beat," Pichay said. JMR/AMA
(March 29, 2004 issue)
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