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RIVAL
factions at the Philippine Communications Satellite
Corp. on Monday agreed to engage the services of
independent auditors of Lybran Ross Bros. to audit the
sequestered firm, including the Philippine Overseas
Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) which wholly owns
Philcomsat, in order to resolve the brewing boardroom
brawl at the former company of Marcos cronies.
The
agreement was brokered by Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman
of the Senate Committee on Government Corporations,
which is conducting an inquiry into charges and
countercharges by the warring groups over alleged
dissipation of assets at Philcomsat and POTC.
Gordon elicited a consensus at Monday’s hearing to tap
the services of an independent auditing firm, suggesting
for instance the New York based-Lybran Ross Brothers, to
look into the books of Philcomsat and POTC to finally
settle the raging row between the so-called Africa-Ilusorio
Group and Philcomsat Holdings Corp. officers led by
Philip Brodett and Enrique Locsin.
When
Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG)
chairman Camilo Sabio told the committee the PCGG had no
funds to hire outside auditors, Gordon turned to the PHC
officers, who said they have no objection to it.
“I am
willing [to support the audit] personally, but I cannot
answer for the PHC Board,” Locsin said.
Gordon told reporters after the hearing that he intends
to get all the parties involved in the Philcomsat
controversy together “so we can finish the inquiry”
after conducting another hearing during the
congressional recess.
Earlier, majority stakeholders of PHC said Malacañang
can easily save the PHC from further assets dissipation
by simply removing the control of the company from the
PCGG.
In a
press briefing Friday afternoon, Erlinda K.
Ilusorio-Bildner, president and CEO of Philcomsat
and Philippine Overseas and Telecommunications Corp. (POTC)
chairperson, said with all the exposés on how “PHC is
slowly losing its money since 2003,” it is high time
that President Arroyo made her move and took her PCGG
nominees to the PHC out of the picture.
“All
it requires is political will from the top. Get the
officials from the PCGG out as they are an embarrassment
to the administration,” Ilusorio-Bildner said.
The
publicly listed PHC is 81-percent owned by Philcomsat/POTC,
which is 35-percent owned by the government.
The
Congress has put the PHC under scrutiny due to the
alleged exorbitant spending by Mrs. Arroyo’s PCGG
nominees to the company.
Ilusorio-Bildner said while there are several ways to
prevent further dissipation, all actions will be futile
as long as the Board is still dominated by the PCGG. |
