A CIVIC organization on Sunday urged Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Winston Garcia to “fully disclose” his alleged takeover plan of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to allay fears that the move “stands to favor several business interests.”

Tanglaw ng Bayan expressed fear that Garcia’s plan “betrays a grand design for a takeover of the country’s most lucrative power distribution enterprise by business interests strongly identified with the Garcia clan of Cebu.”

Manuel Luis Quezon University professor and Tanglaw spokesman Bayani Santos Jr. said Garcia’s pronouncement that he intends to break up the Meralco franchise into three “gave the public a hint that he could be fronting for groups interested in the Lopez-led business.”

Santos warned Garcia that “there is a gnawing public suspicion that he is leveraging the GSIS stake in Meralco to push the interests of the influential Aboitiz and Alcantara groups, which are both perceived as being close to President Arroyo.”

This could be unfair both to GSIS members and to the President herself, Santos said.

Santos pointed out that Garcia is closely identified with the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco), the country’s second-largest power distributor. The firm is owned by the Aboitiz and Garcia families of Cebu, which expanded their stake in Veco following a “buyout” of the stake of the Texas-based East Asia Power Utilities Corp.

The Garcia law firm in Cebu allegedly engineered the buyout, Santos said, but earlier, a GSIS lawyer strongly denied any links between Garcia and Veco.

Santos revealed he was engaged by the Garcia clan to pioneer the expansion of its publication business in Metro Manila in the late 1990s. “I am familiar with the business style of the Garcias,” Santos said.

Santos also said the Aboitizes and the Alcantaras “are business partners in the power sector.” The two groups are collaborating on a coal-fired power plant project in Mindanao, Santos said.

He added that “Garcia must clarify whether or not his suspected client—the Aboitiz-Alcantara group—has opted to take over the Metro Manila power distribution business itself rather than pursuing the Mindanao project.”

Shipping magnate Endika Aboitiz and former trade secretary Tomas Alcantara are closely identified with President Arroyo.

Santos also expressed concern that the privileged speech of Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte against Meralco “is part of the grand design.” He explained that Villafuerte “was the point man in the failed bid by Garcia’s father, Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia, to wrest the speakership of the lower House.”

Garcia should be transparent himself on the grand design behind his takeover bid using the money of GSIS members, Santos added.

Santos explained that it is important for Meralco customers to know which business interests stand to profit from Garcia’s moves and how these interests could affect the quality and cost of power distribution services in Metro Manila.

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A CIVIC organization on Sunday urged Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Winston Garcia to “fully disclose” his alleged takeover plan of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to allay fears that the move “stands to favor several business interests.”