Danding's bid to sell SMC shares boosted

CHAIRMAN Camilo Sabio of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) hinted on Tuesday that the state would eventually accede to the proposition of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) chairman Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco Jr. for him to sell 13 percent of the 20-percent sequestered shares at the food and beverage conglomerate in order to pay debts of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).
       The PCGG through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) asked anew on Tuesday for an extension of the Sandiganbayan hearing of Cojuangco’s request to sell the 13-percent sequestered SMC shares.
       “We are still weighing everything. There are political and economic implications [in this issue] . . .said Sabio in a press briefing at the PCGG on Tuesday.
       Mr. Sabio explained that blocking Cojuangco’s plan to sell 13-percent shares would severely impact on the UCPB, 95 percent of which is sequestered property of the government.
       “The UCPB needs to pay P4 billion by August to September this year to pay its outstanding debts. If something happens to the bank like a bank run, it will definitely affect the Philippine economy,” said Sabio.
       He added: “So don’t be surprised if we allow him [Cojuangco] to sell those SMC shares so the UCPB outstanding debts could be paid”.
       The PCGG through the OSG had initially asked the Sandiganbayan to move to May 23 the hearing of Cojuangco’s petition to sell 13-percent shares at SMC, in order to allow the agency to study the case.
       At Tuesday’s supposed hearing at the antigraft court, the PCGG asked that the hearing be moved to June 27, 2006.
       PCGG commissioner for legal affairs Narciso Nario said the government’s request for postponement of the hearing would also allow the OSG and the PCGG to instead ask the Sandiganbayan to resolve the issue of ownership of the 20-percent sequestered shares.
       “The petition to sell 13-percent shares of the SMC should be subject of the outcome of the issue of ownership of sequestered shares,” Nario explained at the PCGG briefing.
       He asked: “What if the Sandiganbayan decides that those shares [20 percent] belong to the government?”
       The PCGG sequestered 47 percent of SMC shares in 1986 on the assumption these were acquired by Cojuangco and Marcos cronies using their influence on the late president Ferdinand Marcos. E. Torres