PCGG downplays Danding’s motion on San Miguel Corp.

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) downplayed the motion filed by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) chairman and chief executive officer Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. before the Sandiganbayan to reconsider its May 7 ruling that the disputed 27 percent share in the country’s largest food and beverage firm was bought using the state Coconut Industry Investment Fund (CIIF) and therefore belongs to the government.

"We expected that they are going to appeal the decision but we are sure of our case. And we are confident that we are going to win," Haydee Yorac, PCGG chairperson said.

PCGG Commissioner Vyva Victoria Aguirre confirmed that Cojuangco has the option to file a motion on the ruling.

"It is really expected. You have the choice to file a motion and his lawyer did just that," she said.

In an 18-page motion for reconsideration, Cojuangco’s lawyer Estelito Mendoza told the first division of the anti-graft court that the partial summary judgment it granted on the controversial shares was not conclusive.

He said the lower court merely echoed the Supreme Court ruling that the funds used to acquire the SMC shares were "prima facie public funds," having been sourced from coconut farmers’ levies.

The Sandiganbayan earlier ruled in a 66-page decision that the SMC shares "belong to the government" and are "held in trust for all the coconut farmers."

The disputed shares is part of Cojuangco’s 47 percent stake in SMC, which the government sequestered in 1986 after a popular uprising that toppled former President Ferdinand Marcos.