By Estrella Torres
Reporter
THE Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) will seek the immediate disposition of the recovered P54 billion in shares at the telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) which were forfeited in favor of the government in a Supreme Court decision on Wednesday.
PCGG commissioner for legal affairs Nicasio Conti said the commission is now entitled to two board seats in the PLDT since the High Court declared that the shares in question under the Philippine Telecommunications Investments Corp. (PTIC) belong to the state.
“Our job is to ensure that the shares would not be dissipated and to protect the interest of the government in the PLDT,” said Conti in an interview on Thursday.
The Supreme Court ruled with finality that the government owns 111,415 shares of stocks of PTIC, which represent 28 percent of outstanding stocks of the PLDT under the name of Prime Holdings Inc. (PHI).
However, the 28 per cent shares in PLDT have been diluted to 15 per cent after the PLDT swapped shares with Smart Communications.
“Since PTIC owns 46 percent under PHI, then we get at least two board seats there,” said Conti.
At the same time, the PCGG commissioner for asset management and privatization, Ricardo Abcede, said the government is looking to privatize the PLDT shares once there is a good market outlook.
“We will assume board seats in the PLDT and upon the right timing, but will eventually sell these shares,” said Abcede.
The court ruled that the forfeited shares at the PLDT were part of the ill-gotten wealth of the estate of Ferdinand Marcos, kept under the names of the late Ramon Cojuangco and Imelda Cojuangco.
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