More than two dozen armed men, accompanied by lawyers, allegedly padlocked the main office of the government-controlled Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (PHC) in Makati City Tuesday night, locking in four security guards who were still inside as of press time yesterday.
The group is allegedly claiming ownership and wanted to force physical possession of the firm’s offices at the Pacific Star building.
PHC legal counsel Pitero Reig said those who barged into the premises identified themselves as representatives of PHC’s mother company, Philippine Communications Satellite (Philcomsat), a sequestered company now controlled by a group composed of Marcos cronies.
This crony group, he said, forcibly took over Philcomsat and its sequestered mother company, POTC, in 2000 despite the existence of a government-led board.
Reig condemned “this lawless and criminal act by a desperate illegal crony board whose ill-gotten wealth cases are still pending with the Sandiganbayan.”
“PHC, not Philcomsat, owns this property and we have the original title and certified true copy from the register of deeds to show for it,” he said.
He added that PHC will sue the group and their principals, most likely members of the crony group, for illegal detention at the very least.
The government-led board of the PHC will set up office in another undisclosed location following the break-in.
“The government-led board remains in control of the company and its finances. Our representatives are the only authorized bank signatories. This is no different from a coup where a band of rebels take extra-legal measures while the government is in control overall,” Reig said.
He said the government group will follow all legal rules and procedures in defending its rights against the crony group.
Reig emphasized that last June, the Court of Appeals had dismissed all legal challenges to the government board in POTC and Philcomsat. The CA also issued a preliminary injunction supporting the authority of the government board to oversee PHC.
This, in effect, validated the legitimacy of the government board, led by Enrique Locsin and Concepcion Poblador.
“Unfortunately, while the Locsin-Poblador group is now deemed the legitimate board, the crony group is in physical control of the sequestered POTC and Philcomsat, and now the head office of PHC,” he said. “Anarchy, lawlessness, and strong-arm measures have proven, for now, superior to the rule of law.”
As of press time, the armed group is still in control of the area outside the office and even barred people and media men from going up.
Reig named members of the crony group as scions of Juan Ponce Enrile, Potenciano Ilusorio, and Jose Africa, who are still waiting for the Sandiganbayan to resolve the case involving their alleged ill-gotten wealth.
“These cronies have no right, legal or moral, to control sequestered companies and their funds. The Court of Appeals in a June 2007 decision in effect said the crony group is an illegal board and therefore should move out of Philcomsat and POTC,” Reig said.
He added that the crony group “should account for the almost P2 billion these two companies had way back in 2000. But they refused to be audited.”
Makati City police chief Superintendent Gilbert Cruz said he was informed of the incident so he sent two mobile patrol teams to the area to ensure peace and order.
According to him, his men will not interfere with the matter unless necessary so as not to be accused of taking sides.
In October last year, PHC director and treasurer Manuel Andal filed charges against Senators Manuel Villar, Juan Ponce Enrile, Richard Gordon, and Manuel Roxas II before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly authorizing the raid on one of his offices, also located at the Pacific Star building.
Andal said those who barged into his office without his consent took valuable documents that were used to discredit him and the very company he works for.
The raid was allegedly a result of the issuance of a warrant of arrest against him by Gordon, who chairs the Senate’s committee on government corporations and public enterprise.
The warrants of arrest were issued after he refused to show up before senators who were conducting a legislative inquiry on allegations that the PCGG allowed the dissipation of assets of sequestered corporations like the PHC. – With Rainier Allan Ronda