Bautista calls suit filed by farmers ‘pure harassment’

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Lilia R. Bautista branded yesterday the case filed by a farmers’ group based in Surigao del Sur against her and two other SEC associate commissioners as "pure harassment" and intended to benefit certain people who have their own agenda.

"This is pure harassment and certainly intended to damage the reputation of people who have devoted years of service in the government to the best of their ability and have not enriched themselves in office," Bautista said in a statement.

A farmers’ multisectoral group filed last week a complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman against Bautista and SEC Associate Commissioners Fe Eloisa Gloria and Joselia Poblador for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices law. The complaint was filed in connection with the SEC’s decision to extend the corporate term of publicly-listed pulp and newsprint manufacturer Picop Resources Inc. for another 50 years from March 31, the original expiry date of its term.

Multisectoral group president Florio S. Josafat alleged that by giving a retroactive extension of Picop’s corporate life, the SEC officials violated provisions of the Corporation Code and Sec. 3 of the anti-graft law, which penalizes the act of knowingly granting any privilege or benefit in favor of any person not qualified or entitled to such privilege.

Speaking on behalf of Gloria and Poblador, Bautista said: "The commissions in all cases provided the requisites of the law are present in the compliance made by the corporation, has always given a retroactive effect on the extension of the term of the corporation."

Bautista said the commission had no reason not to extend Picop’s corporate life because the company had paid the required filing fee.

She also refuted allegations that the SEC decision was arrived at upon the inducement of or conspiracy with officials of Picop, particularly their president Teodoro Bernardino. "I suppose we have been caught between Bernardino, who by the way, we don’t know personally and his enemies. This has also been instigated by people who have their own agenda and who use others instead of coming out in the open," Bautista said.

SEC insiders expressed surprise with the non-inclusion of SEC Associate Commissioner Juanita Cueto in the petition lodged by the multisectoral group considering she also voted for the extension of Picop’s corporate life for another 50 years from March 31, 2002. SEC Associate Commissioner Jesus Martinez, on the other hand, issued a dissenting opinion on the matter.

The Company Registration and Monitoring Department of the SEC approved the application of Picop following the firm’s settlement of the required filing fee. Picop filed its application for the amendment of its articles of incorporation at the SEC last March 26, prior to the expiry date of its previous license.

Picop earlier paid only P210 on the belief that the application was a regular amendment of articles which normally would require only that amount. Considering that it was a regular amendment extending the term, the filing fee should be one-fifth of one percent of the authorized capital stock. Based on the P6 billion capital of Picop, the filing fee would be P12 million.

SEC said that while Picop continued to negotiate for the reduction of the filing fee, it agreed to pay the required fee under protest.

Trading of Picop shares had earlier been suspended by the Philippine Stock Exchange for failing to immediately secure the approval of the SEC for the extension of its corporate life. This was also used by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to hold Picop’s integrated forest management agreement (IFMA) after its timber license agreement expired last April 25.

Controlled by the Bernardino family, Picop operates a milling plant and wood plantation in Bislig, Surigao del Sur. Once Southeast Asia’s largest integrated wood and paper milling company, it was listed in 1973 and transformed into a holding firm in 1997 as it ventured into particleboard manufacturing and palm oil plantation.

In 2000, Picop generated total revenues of P1.42 billion but has remained in the red with net losses of P215.35 million.