GSIS planning to file fraud charges against Meralco
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:42:00 05/06/2008
MANILA, Philippines--The government service Insurance System is planning to file fraud charges against the Lopez-controlled management of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) over a P30-billion billing fiasco, GSIS Chair Winston Garcia told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday.
In an interview, Garcia stressed that he had no intention of taking control of Meralco from the Lopezes, claiming that he was only fighting for the pension fund’s right to corporate information as a shareholder and its 1.5 million members’ right to get a fair charge in their power bills.
“We are mulling whether to file criminal charges against management for that P30 billion debacle. If you have overcharged, there must be fraud. We are also looking whether that can fall within the ambit of large-scale estafa. We will definitely launch a shareholder suit for damages,” Garcia said.
He said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had nothing to do with the GSIS moves against Meralco. He said that Ms Arroyo had always stood aside on controversial issues that he had taken during his seven years at GSIS. He admitted that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was a friend but he, too, had not interfered in GSIS affairs.
Officials of Meralco and the Lopez family were not immediately available for comment.
Meralco was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2003 to reimburse its customers a total of P30 billion for overcharging its customers from 1994 to 2002. Garcia noted that he was “surprised” that “no heads have rolled” from the debacle which he blamed entirely on the Lopezes.
Lopez is no longer Meralco
Making the Lopezes take responsibility for the billing flap is just one of Garcia’s agenda in stirring a hornet’s nest in the utility’s board room.
'Lopez is no longer Meralco'
"They control less than 20 percent of the company, much lower than GSIS and yet they claim a better right than GSIS in running the show. They won’t even allow us to inquire about what they are doing. This is a fight for shareholders’ right," Garcia said.
“I have all the reasons to demand for change in management. The P30 billion is enough reason for any shareholder to demand a change in management for this fiasco.”
Garcia, who has so far attended two board meetings since joining the board in April, revealed how he had been shabbily treated by Meralco chair Manolo Lopez. He said directors were only given the agenda at the start of the meeting.
He said that whenever he requested for a detailed look into the company’s books he would be asked to “go look at tons of documents in the comptroller’s office.”
“If I wanted to have a copy, I would be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement promising not to use these documents in any litigation,” Garcia said.
‘Sweetheart deal’
Garcia’s call for more transparency was focused on the P54 billion in annual business dealings that Meralco has with the Lopez-owned First Philippine group power plants and the details of the 10-percent systems losses that Meralco automatically bills its customers every month.
He said that the Lopezes should explain why First Philippine group had been earning billions in profits through the years while Meralco had been declaring measly dividends during the period.
Saying P54 billion is a lot of money, Garcia added, “We want to know whether it is all aboveboard and whether investing and consuming public are not shortchanged ... It’s a sweetheart deal, they are the ones negotiating for themselves. Why are they not bidding out these supply contracts to other suppliers?
“Sooner or later this mischief will catch up on us just like the overcharging they have done to the consumers. Now we were forced to reimburse our customers P30 billion. I don’t want to just close our eyes to the stealing,” Garcia said.
Garcia also questioned why the public had continued to pay for the Lopezes’ inefficiency in plugging pilferage.
“What are they doing with this inefficiency? Granting that the law allows it, I don’t think we have the moral justification to continue charging it by not doing anything about it. Have you attempted to catch those who are stealing electricity? How sure are we that this is not just a ploy of management to pass on some illegal consumption of management to consumers?” Garcia asked.
No backing down
Contrary to what he claimed was the move of the Lopezes to muddle the issue, Garcia said: “I am not waging a proxy war. I have no intention whatsoever of wresting control of Meralco.”
Garcia said that GSIS would be satisfied with just consolidating its shares with other government financial institutions (Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, and Social Security System) which together, at 35 percent, would give them between 5 to 6 board seats in the 11-member Meralco board.
He said it was the Lopezes who needed to get proxies in order to add to its holdings of 18 percent. “They have a total of 33 percent with Union Fenoza (9 percent) and the Meralco Pension Fund (9 percent). I will ask them to prove that they have paid for the Meralco shares held by the company’s pension fund before they can use these for their votes,” Garcia said.
He said he had been through “many corporate battles” and that he was not about to back down from the Lopezes after facing the Go and Sy families in the Equitable-PCIBank-Banco de Oro merger.
“I won that round because I was able to force them to buy us out at P92 per share and not their offer of P54,” said Garcia.
|
