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Saturday, May 08, 2004
Gov't gets 20% of San Miguel from Danding (11:58 a.m.)
MANILA -- A court ruling delivered the government a major victory in its fight to wrest control of food and drink giant San Miguel Corp. from Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, a key crony of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, an official said Saturday.
The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court ruled late Friday that at least 27 percent of San Miguel Corp. belonged to the government of President Arroyo and not to Cojuangco, the San Miguel chairman.
It was a giant boost for Arroyo, 57, just ahead of the presidential elections on May 10 in which she is running for another term against opposition candidate, movie star Fernando Poe Jr., 64, who is backed by many former Marcos men.
The government charges that the shares are part of a 47-percent block of San Miguel that was acquired through a levy on the coconut industry imposed during the Marcos years, which had been illegally controlled by Cojuangco and other Marcos cronies.
"It is a major victory for the government because it is our position that all coconut levy funds are public funds and should be returned to government," said Nick Suarez, spokesman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
However, Cojuangco has told the PCGG, which has spent the past 17 years trying to recover an estimated US$10 billion allegedly stolen by Marcos and his allies, that he would appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
And the status quo of San Miguel's top management, where Cojuangco sits as chairman and chief executive, will remain, Suarez said.
There was no immediate reaction from San Miguel or Cojuangco.
Suarez said the PCGG hoped to use the same arguments that reclaimed the 27 percent to get the remaining 20 percent of San Miguel still provisionally held by Cojuangco and his allies.
The PCGG sequestered the 47 percent of San Miguel shares in 1986 after a popular revolt ended the 20-year Marcos rule and sent Marcos and his close ally, Cojuangco, into exile abroad.
Marcos died in Hawaii in 1989 but Cojuangco was allowed to return and last year the anti-graft court gave him provisional control over the disputed 20 percent stake in San Miguel. The government has been appealing this decision.
"The position of government is these shares were also acquired through coconut levy funds. We are very hopeful that eventually, we will get back everything," Suarez said.
"Eventually, it will be used to benefit the coconut farmers," who complain that the industry suffered because of the Marcos-imposed levy, Suarez said.
Reacting to the ruling, Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye simply stated, "It's the decision of the Sandiganbayan. Let the case take its course."
"Of course, the Supreme Court is always the court of last recourse," he said.
He would not comment on how the decision might affect the elections on May 10 amid opinion surveys showing that Arroyo has a slight lead over her main rival, Poe.
In the past, Cojuangco has supported politicians linked with Marcos but in recent months, he has taken an apolitical stance publicly, leading to speculation that Arroyo had struck a deal with him.
San Miguel, which specializes in beer but also has interests in food processing and non-alcoholic beverages, has been expanding abroad in recent years, due largely to the leadership of Cojuangco.
The company's net profit in 2003 rose seven percent over 2002 to hit P7.37 billion while its net profit in the first three months of the year rose 30 percent to P1.74 billion. AFP |
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