Need cash? Liquidate Philcomsat

A lot of bright ideas are coming out from numerous quarters on how to raise money for our cash strapped government. House Speaker Jose de Venecia started collecting pledges from rich businessmen for cash donations.

Members of the Philippine National Police committed one month’s salary. And now each Filipino citizen is being asked to give P1 a day to the government to help pay off its huge debt and keep the bureaucracy running.

Not to mention the various new and additional taxes being toyed upon by the administration.

There’s one source of new money for government which surprisingly has not been seriously been looked into, probably because government representatives in these corporations are enjoying to the hilt their posts – the sale of government’s interest in private corporations. In the past, government has realized huge windfall from the sale of its stake in private business, such as the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp. (Philphos) and Petron Corp., though at times, the disposal has met opposition from other claimants to its interest.

There are some corporations, however, that are more than willing to convert the government’s holdings into cash. Victor Africa, president of the Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) and its subsidiary Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat), said it would be timely to liquidate the two corporations, which have been idle since they lost monopoly of the satellite business.

Liquidating the corporations would include Philcomsat Holdings Inc., a listed company owned 81 percent by Philcomsat.

By virtue of its 35-percent ownership of POTC, the government has an indirect 30-percent stake in PHC, where agents of the Presidential Commission on Good Government sit on the board.

Africa said the government could receive about P250 million in liquidation dividends from the dissolution of the three companies. The good part is that stockholders of the three companies will not object.

They too want to get out of an outdated business and venture into more exciting and more promising enterprises. The boards and management of the three firms are also expected to give full cooperation to such a move.

The government should take on Africa’s offer and seize the opportunity to raise P250 million.

That’s a lot more than the one-peso donation from equally cash-strapped Filipinos. Shell sues Nation Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC) has just sued local LPG refiller Nation Petroleum Corp., a company that allows PSPS use of its storage facilities in Sariaya, Quezon for a fee, for estafa.

In 2000, PSPC and Nation, represented by its president Renato Ang, entered into an agreement for the use of the latter’s facilities in Sariaya, Quezon for the storage of PSPC’s bulk LPG for eventual distribution to PSPC customers. In return, Nation would be compensated for this service.

Sometime in 2001, during an operational audit of PSPC’s transactions involving the sale, distribution, and storage of PSPC’s LPG activities all over the country, it was discovered that various volumes of Shell LPG stocks in the Nation plant were unaccounted for.

A reconciliation was made and together with supporting documents, it was established that Nation failed to account for about 4.3 million kilos of LPG valued at $1.62 million, exclusive of interest.

Despite repeated demand for payment, Ang allegedly refused to return the LPG or pay the equivalent value as a result of which PPSC decided to sue Nation.

The case has been set for preliminary hearing by the Makati City prosecutor’s office.

For comments, e-mail at [email protected]