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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Lopezes keep control of Meralco
MANILA -- The Lopezes have retained control of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) after a daylong stockholders' battle Tuesday.
The Meralco was able to push through its annual stockholders meeting despite the cease and desist order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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The election of Meralco board members, which is part of the meeting, started around 7 p.m. and lasted before 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Five among the Meralco nominees were able to take the seats in the 11-man board, while four others are from the government bloc.
Manuel "Manolo" Lopez was elected as Chairman of the Board, while Felipe Alfonso as the vice chairman. Jesus Francisco, also from Meralco, was elected president.
The other nominees who were elected board members of the Meralco include Christian Monsod, Cesar Virata, Winston Garcia, Bernardino Abes, Daisy Arce, and Jeremy Parulan.
Two independent directors were also able to take the Meralco seats. These are former Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban and Vicente Panlilio, a businessman.
The three nominees, on the other hand, who failed to get the Meralco seats were Peter Garucho Jr., Eusebio Tangco and Generoso Isitulangan.
Tuesday's voting process was made through ballots and it was considered as the longest and loudest stockholders meeting in the Philippine history that even before the event, employees of the power company who also held shares have shouted support to Meralco while mocking at Garcia who came in with the cease and desist order from the SEC.
Injunction
At the commencement of the meeting earlier Tuesday, the SEC served an injunction, preventing Meralco proxies to be selected as members of the board. The injunction also gave SEC authority to control the meetings.
However, majority of the present Meralco board members questioned the legitimacy of the injunction as it was numbered, did not bear the seal, was undated and was signed by only one SEC commissioner -- Jesus Enrique Martinez -- which gave him no influence to represent the members of the commission.
The Meralco board also pointed out that the injunction was released without the conduct of a committee hearing, which is a breach of due process.
It was also wary of the SEC's involvement since the settling of intra-corporate disputes to the courts is not in their jurisdiction.
SEC-Compliance and Enforcement Division Director Hubert Guevara said the injunction was not intended to halt the meeting, but for the commission to make sure that there would be transparency in the voting process.
Guevara said the Meralco board decision to continue with the stockholders' meeting is still subject to the SEC's action.
Act of defiance
Garcia, president of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), meantime criticized Meralco for defying the SEC's directive, saying proxies were manufactured and that Meralco's act of defiance was illegal, and was "smacked of arrogance and desperation."
"This (Tuesday) morning, the whole world saw the arrogance of management, the naked display of arrogance of management when they openly defied the order of the SEC. This just goes to show that the Meralco management headed by Manolo Lopez will do everything in their power, including defying laws just so they can continue to do their philandering ways in Meralco," Garcia said.
He is confident the government will take Meralco out of the Lopez's hands and that the people in Metro Manila will finally be freed from high power rates.
"Today is the beginning of the end of Mr. Manolo Lopez. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Truth and justice is on our side. The liberation of Metro Manila residents who have long been oppressed by Meralco's oppressive power rates will now come," he earlier said.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, for his part, stressed that Meralco should answer to the SEC of its refusal to heed the cease and desist order it issued to prevent proxies from voting in the stockholders' meeting.
"If there is a legitimate cease and desist order, let them be answerable to the SEC," Ermita said, denying that Malacañang had a hand in the injunction issued by the SEC.
He said the government did not issue any instructions to Garcia who sought the injunction in a bid to protect and promote the interest of the stockholders. The GSIS has the second largest shares in Meralco.
"The more reason we have to await the recommendations of the Cabinet study group on the matter. Definitely (they will take this development into account). I think they will get some government lawyers to assist them to see how the stockholders meeting would (impact)," said the executive secretary.
Ermita and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes reiterated that the government has no interest on who should manage Meralco, stressing that they are after the bringing down of the rates.
"The important is everything is done in the proper procedure and a resolution would be reached to bring down power rates, after all that's what everyone's squabbling about," he said. (JLCP/JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (May 28, 2008 issue)
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