Prosecutor junks case vs Philcomsat president

The Makati prosecutor’s office has dismissed the theft case filed against Victor Africa, president of Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) and Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat) by Manuel Andal, who claimed he was the treasurer of Philcomsat.

City Prosecutor Feliciano Aspi approved the resolution written by Assistant City Prosecutor Edmund H. Seña recommending dismissal of the complaint.

Andal filed the complaint after Africa rejected his demand to turn over the stock certificates for 81 percent of Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) owned by Philcomsat, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of POTC.

The complainant is a member of the group led by Manuel Nieto Jr. that currently manages PHC on a de facto basis, which means their election to the PHC board and management is being questioned in court.

In demanding the turnover of the stock certificates, Andal claimed he was the treasurer of Philcomsat.

Actually, the Philcomsat board appointed Katrina Ponce-Enrile as treasurer in addition to being a member of the company’s board of directors.

In accordance with the company’s by-laws, Ponce-Enrile has custody of the PHC stock certificates.

Andal claimed he and other members of the Nieto group were elected to the Philcomsat board during a stockholders’ meeting on Aug. 9, 2004, the validity of which was upheld by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In his counter-affidavit, Africa pointed out that the Court of Appeals, through a temporary restraining order (TRO) dated Aug. 31, 2004, which was replaced with a preliminary injunction on Oct. 25, 2004, prohibited the SEC and the Nieto group from implementing three SEC orders, including the one that upheld the validity of the group’s Aug. 9, 2004 meeting.

The injunction effectively allowed the POTC and Philcomsat boards of directors and management headed by Africa as president and Erlinda Bildner as chairman to continue managing the two companies.

The Bildner-Africa board was elected during the Philcomsat stockholders’ meeting on July 28, 2004, or more than a week before the Nieto group conducted their own meeting.

Actually, Andal was one of the government nominees who were elected during the July 28, 2004 meeting, but they failed to formally declare acceptance of their election and failed to show they own at least one Philcomsat share to quality for election.

The government owns 35 percent of POTC and Philcomsat, and 28 percent of PHC.