PCGG to appeal SC ruling on SMC shares

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is set to appeal the recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling upholding Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.’s ownership of the disputed 20 percent stake in conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC).

Marco Antonio Luisito Sardillo III, PCGG executive director, said they are now drafting a motion for reconsideration that would highlight the “interesting and very illuminating” dissenting opinions of Associate Justices Conchita Carpio-Morales and Arturo Brion on the case.

Sardillo said the commission has already received a copy of the SC decision penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin.

“Justice Brion cited a basic principle of law which states that the state is not bound by the mistakes of its agents,” Sardillo said. He said the PCGG is confident of convincing the SC to reverse its ruling.

PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista earlier said the close vote of the justices on the issue could indicate that the government has not yet lost the case.

Seven justices ruled in favor of Cojuangco, four dissented and four others abstained. Cojuangco is a maternal uncle of President Aquino.

The government filed the case against Cojuangco on July 31, 1987, contending that the businessman acquired the disputed shares illegally and largely because of his close association with the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Records of the case showed that Cojuancgo bought shares equivalent to 20 percent of SMC using money loaned from the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) that he himself had set up and headed as president and member of the board of directors.

The UCPB was set up mainly from funds of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) raised from the coconut levy collected from coconut farmers during the Martial Law years.

Meanwhile, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday over radio dzRB that the President would like to study the matter very carefully before making a statement.

But the President gave assurances that he would make sure the interest of the people is upheld.

“It should not be taken against us (that) we want to be prudent before addressing a particular issue,” Valte said in response to Sen. Joker Arroyo’s criticism that the Aquino administration was suspiciously silent on the issue.

The government stands to lose more than P84 billion in the SC decision, Arroyo said, but the Aquino administration, “for some reason, is taking the SC ruling lightly.”

Arroyo said the administration never hesitated to lambast the SC in its previous decisions but now appeared to be dilly-dallying on this ruling.

Valte said the President has already tasked his legal team to prepare a brief on the “very complicated” issue.