Ex-PSE prexy asks RTC to void election results

A group of former Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) officials led by past president Ramon T. Garcia filed before the Regional Trial Court in Pasig City yesterday an injunction seeking the nullification of the recent elections of eight non-broker directors at the PSE board and calling for new polls to subject them to the votes of the general membership.

Garcia, who was one of the original list of 19 candidates for the eight non-broker positions at the 15-man PSE board, filed the court case along with former PSE chair Trinidad Kalaw and former PSE governor Joseph Roxas.

Apart from the non-brokers, the complaint was also directed at the old PSE board chaired by Felipe Yap and members of the PSE’s nominations and elections committee (Nomelec), whom the three accused of arbitrarily trimming the list of non-brokers.

In the committee were former PSE corporate secretary and Nomelec chairman Edgardo Guevarra, along with brokers Emmanuel Edward Co, Alejandro Yu, Alejandro de Castro and Joseph San Pedro.

Garcia said that despite having the backing in the form of a nomination from both Kalaw and Roxas submitted to the Nomelec, he was scrapped from the list which was whittled down to an exact number of eight, which the old board eventually approved.

"The exclusion of plaintiff Garcia from the list of nominees in the election of non-broker director and his disqualification as candidate for such position was done arbitrarily, whimsically and for no valid reason at all, as indeed up to now, no reason has been given to plaintiffs as to such disqualification much less were they given due process," the group’s legal counsel Sison and Associates said.

Despite having served in the PSE board as a non-broker director, Garcia was disqualified since he was connected to a securities firm RTG and Co., where he was corporate nominee until his appointment in May 2000. The same issue is being leveled against incumbent PSE president Ernest Loung, who was ex-officio chairman of DBP-Daiwa Securities until June last year.

The petition claimed that since Garcia was deprived of his right to participate as a bona fide stockholder of PSE, the "elections" of the non-brokers should be declared null and void "because they were not actually elected by the stockholders of PSE."

"None of them got a single vote from the stockholders of the PSE. All of them were just deemed elected, upon recommendation of the Nomelec, in violation and complete disregard of the PSE By-Laws," the petition said.

The eight non-brokers led by Leung are being blamed in particular by the group of Robert Coyiuto, Jr. for swinging the vote on the PSE chairmanship, which he lost to old rival Vivian Yuchengco whose slate got fewer broker representations in the board.

The petition asked the court to issue a cease-and-desist order against the non-brokers from further discharging their duties while the case is pending and that their election be declared null and void.

Garcia’s group also sought over P400,000 in damages from the defendants, arising from violation of the former’s rights as stockholders, moral and exemplary damages, attorneys’ fees, and other expenses related to the suit.