Nieto group takes over Philcomsat chairmanship

Amid the growing tension in Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat), the Manuel Nieto Jr.-led group has formed its own board of directors with newcomer Enrique Locsin, an appointee by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), taking over the chairmanship of the divided telecoms firm.

In a March 22 meeting at the Manila Polo Club, the Nieto-led Philcomsat board (as differentiated with the Carmelo Africa-controlled board) installed Locsin, the brother of Makati solon and former mediaman Teodoro Locsin, as the new chairman replacing Ronaldo Salonga.

Aside from Locsin, three other PCGG nominees were accepted into the board: new additional Julio Jalandoni and holdovers Edgardo Villanueva and Benito Araneta. The PCGG has a 40 percent stake in Philcomcat, which entitles it to four board seats.

The rest of the new nine-man board consist of Nieto, Marietta Ilusorio, Lourdes Africa, Honorio Poblador and Katrina Ponce-Enrile.

In the same meeting, Nieto was elected president to lead the new set of corporate officers, which include Africa, treasurer; Kitchie Benedicto, assistant treasurer; Luis Lokin Jr., corporate secretary; and Janet Tudela, assistant corporate secretary.

The meeting and the subsequent election, unsurprisingly, was being contested by the Africa-led group, which claimed that it was an "illegal board" since both the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court have ruled that the Nieto bloc held a rump election in 1998.

The PCGG has also recently appointed Manuel Andal as its new nominee in lieu of Villanueva but his appointment was not included in the said board meeting.

The election of Locsin as new chairman was likewise off to a shaky start as he was allegedly prevented last Monday from entering the chairman’s office at the Philcomsat headquarters in Makati, currently occupied by Africa.