PCGG says it is open to compromise with Lucio Tan

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said yesterday the government is open to a compromise deal with business tycoon Lucio Tan with regards to ownership of shares in four of his companies previously sequestered by the government.

"As we have stated before, as long as there is a proposal for a settlement which will not be disadvantageous to the government and not contrary to law, morals and public policy, then we are open for discussion" of a compromise, PCGG Commissioner William Dichoso told a press conference at the PCGG offices in Mandaluyong City.

However, the PCGG said it will not initiate the move for a compromise deal.

PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio was also quoted on ANC television as saying the PCGG was open to settling the issue out of court. He said, however, that the PCGG was not pursuing an amicable settlement at this point.

"The possibility of amicable settlement is always there. In fact, that is encouraged by the Supreme Court," Sabio said.

Records show that the government sequestered 92.34 percent of the shares of stocks of Foremost Farms Inc., 99.8 percent of Fortune Tobacco Corp., 68 percent of the total "common" subscribed shares and 100 percent of the total "preferred" subscribed shares in Allied Banking Corp., and 79 percent of Shareholdings Inc.

No valuation was mentioned but Dichoso said the value of these holdings may have increased tremendously in the past 20 years. He stressed that the government, through the PCGG, will exhaust all judicial remedies to settle the issue.

"We have to file first our motion for reconsideration depending on the reaction of the court. There is still another remedy… and that is to go up to the Supreme Court," he said.

Dichoso said the PCGG does not believe that Tan lost business opportunities over the past 20 years because of the sequestration of the four firms.

"It is not true. We never had access to any of these corporations despite a writ of sequestration issued by the former commission. (There was) no government interference as far as our records are concerned. No nominees or controllers were allowed to be assigned to any of these companies. So, despite the sequestration order, the government did not, in any manner, interfere with the operations or management of these companies," he stressed.

Dichoso also emphasized that the firms’ personnel never even allowed government personnel to enter the premises of the companies since the sequestration was issued in 1986 and some were even charged criminally for trying to enter the premises under the writ of sequestration.

He said Tan continued to exercise full power of ownership over these shares despite the sequestration order. The government did not install representatives in the four companies, he added.

"We do not know what he means by ‘loss of opportunities for the last 20 years’ when they have full control over the companies’ assets and properties," he said. "Their only restriction was that they could not sell without approval of the court and the other party."

Dichoso lamented that it is only now that these cases are moving.

"Before, it was never set for trial. But on March 27, there will be a trial on the merits of the case. There will be a flown-blown trial, which is the first in 20 years," he said.