PLDT group: No coercion

MANILA, Philippines - The legal counsel who worked out the purchase agreement between the Yuchengco Group and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. group of businessman Manny V. Pangilinan refuted yesterday the alleged coercion made by deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Ray Espinosa, legal counsel of Pangilinan and PLDT board director, presented himself yesterday as the one who drafted the purchase agreement of the PLDT Group with the Yuchengcos that he said was completed and signed on Nov. 24, 1998.

In an official statement issued yesterday, Espinosa said the “commercial transaction” was negotiated between the PLDT and Yuchengco groups and that there were no other parties involved, much less any behind-the-scenes involvement of Estrada.

Espinosa refuted the allegations made by opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson who, in his privilege speech yesterday at the Senate, claimed that his former boss, Estrada, used the Philippine National Police (PNP) to place under physical surveillance and intimidate Tito Yuchengco, the son of former Philippine ambassador to China Alfonso Yuchengco.

Lacson claimed that the Yuchengcos were forced to sell their PLDT shares to Pangilinan because of this.

The Yuchengcos withheld comment yesterday.

Espinosa disclosed that it was he who negotiated, prepared the purchase agreement and closed the deal with the Yuchengco Group which was represented by Tito Yuchengco as “special representative” designated by his father.

“The best way to address the matter that came out in the privilege speech of Senator Lacson is to put the purchase transaction in proper perspective and context based on facts that I am personally aware of, given my active role in the transaction and in PLDT,” Espinosa said.

“As I’ve said, I’m involved with the negotiations of the deal, particularly with the Yuchengco family and I have prepared those documents. One thing I want to point out is that we have already signed a first purchase agreement and on the request of the Yuchengco side, we, in fact, amended that purchase agreement to further increase the purchase price,” he added, stressing that the purchase price was above market.

Transactions were aboveboard

“So on the basis of those facts, I would believe that those do not show or depict any coercion or force, if any, in terms of doing the transactions,” Espinosa said.

“Let me just say this since the time that we completed the transaction in Nov. 24 1998, it’s almost eleven years that have lapsed to this day, we continue to have since that time business dealings with the Yuchengco Group,” he said.

In fact, Espinosa cited, the Yuchengco Group is one of the biggest bankers of PLDT, through RCBC while the Yuchengco-owned Malayan Insurance Co. continues to be the insurer of the properties of the entire PLDT Group since November 1998 when they took over.

“And Mrs. Helen Dy, who is the daughter of the ambassador, continues to sit on the board of PLDT (which) continue to support her every year in the election. And it is a fact, it should basically depict a picture of very good relations between our group and that of the Yuchengcos,” he pointed out.

Espinosa said he personally “did not detect” any coercion that prompted the Yuchengcos to react to any supposed hostile takeover of the family’s previous holdings in PLDT that were sold to Pangilinan.

Neither, he said, has he any personal knowledge of any alleged involvement of the deposed president behind the deal.

“I can talk about facts that I know personally or first-hand knowledge of. Otherwise, everything else is speculation,” he pointed out.

“Hearsays are hearsays. I won’t dignify any hearsay statements. These are, in fact, old issues that have been raised in the past. It’s been 11 years. In fact it was completed in November 1998 and it’s been eight years since the former president was deposed,” Espinosa noted.

No intimidation

“What I want to emphasize in a situation where there is a force as alleged or intimidation, I think the whole context of our relationship with the Yuchengco Group does not basically conform to that kind of situation. Because we do have a continuing and very good relations with the Yuchengco Group and in fact, as I’ve said, they are one of the biggest banks of PLDT. They continue to underwrite the insurance for the entire PLDT Group and that is taking place for eleven years now,” he reiterated.

“As far as I’m concerned, the transaction was commercially negotiated and was completed on that basis. I would not want to make any other comments with respect to the speech of the good senator,” he said.

Unless Lacson comes up with solid evidence of any wrongdoing, Espinosa said he would limit himself to the statement of facts he is personally aware of. – Marichu Villanueva