PSE president Garcia says he is not stepping down

For ousted Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) president Ramon Garcia, it’s far from over. As it turns out, he may just get support from brokers on the floor.

A day after being asked to step down by the PSE Board of Governors due to a controversial statement on the PSE relocation issue, Garcia said yesterday he will not resign, rejecting an offer by the board for a graceful exit.

"Taking the offer would have been a seeming admission of guilt on my part, and I am not about to throw away all the values and principles I have struggled to live by just to save face," he said. "I therefore chose the more unpopular path and bear the consequences of my decisions."

Garcia said he has the support of PSE management and staff as well as broker-members who are "initiating moves to challenge the board’s decision."

As a newly demutualized stock corporation, the PSE is now owned by broker-members who, by at least a two-thirds vote, can affirm or ratify actions of the board.

Eagle Equities president Joey Roxas said the ouster was unjust – a sentiment being shared by several brokers he talked with.

"How can you fire somebody for defending the interest of the PSE? He may not be a perfect president, but he did not do anything against the interest of the members," Roxas said.

In February 1999, the PSE inked a deal with the Metro Pacific-led Bonifacio Development Corp. and Capital Consortium Inc. for the transfer of the Exchange to a 4,000-sq. meter prime lot at the Bonifacio Global City district by 2004. The FBDC-CCI group also offered to establish a P250-million structure to house the new Exchange, inclusive of free construction design and a detailed engineering plan.

A few months ago, MPC chairman Manuel Pangilinan, also a private sector representative at the PSE’s 15-man board, met with PSE chairman Felipe Yap to try to convince the Exchange to agree to changes in the agreement, including moving to another site and waiving the cost of construction.

However, the board approved a resolution on July 25, authorizing the PSE’s building committee to take the necessary legal action to enforce the decision to maintain the terms of the memorandum of understanding with FBDC.

Later, the PSE hired an external legal counsel and a PR consultant that crafted the controversial statement pinning blame on Pangilinan.

"I delivered the statement last Sept. 17 in a press conference, much to the dismay of some PSE governors who attempted to convince me to downplay the facts and keep the truth internally confined within the PSE’s walls," Garcia said.