New nominees to POTC, Philcomsat downplay TRO

The new government nominees  appointed by Malacañang to the boards of controversial telecommunications firms Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) and Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat) downplayed the recent issuance of a temporary restraining order by the Sandiganbayan preventing them from assuming. their positions.

Lawyer Daniel Gutierrez, one of the six nominees reportedly named to represent the government’s 35-percent share in POTC and Philcomsat last month, said he and his fellow new nominees expressed confidence that their appointment to the two companies emanated from President Arroyo herself and will eventually be validated by Malacañang.

“We were nominated by the President through the search committee to be the government nominees representing the government share,” Gutierrez said.

He also stressed that there was nothing irregular about their nomination being made by Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Undersecretary Enrique Perez and not coursed through the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) since the government shares in POTC and Philcomsat were not sequestered shares but shares already placed under the name of the Republic of the Philippines.

“We are representing government-owned shares, not sequestered shares. That’s very clear. So their claim that our appointment should have been coursed through the PCGG is misleading. We are not PCGG nominees, we never claimed to be PCGG nominees,” Gutierrez said.

He said that despite the aqdmitted delay caused by the 20-day TRO, they remain confident that they will eventually assume their posts at the POTC and Philcomsat.

“We were ordered to protect the government’s interests in the two corporations. We were told to clean it up. And we intend to do just that,” Gutierrez said.

It will be recalled that the Sandiganbayan  issued a 20-day TRO against the election of the six government nominees to the two companies in a stockholders’ meeting last Nov. 19.

In a five-page order issued by Justice Ma. Cristina Cortez-Estrada, the anti-graft court directed the PCGG and the PMS particularly Undersecretary Enrique Perez to maintain the status quo in the top management structure of the two firms and to refrain from recognizing the results of a supposed illegal stockholders’ meeting conducted last Nov. 19 where a set of new government nominees were installed by Perez.

The TRO was issued upon the petition filed by Concepcion Poblador, said to be a director and vice president of POTC and Philcomsat, late last month who questioned the authority of Perez to install the nominees despite the alleged absence of a “desire letter” from President Arroyo.

Perez had named businessman Ramon “RJ” Jacinto, former National Telecommunications Commission chairman retired Rear Admiral Abraham Abesamis, retired Justice Santiago Ranada, labor leader Allan Montano, Lakas-CMD deputy secretary general Rodolfo Serrano, and Gutierrez to the POTC and Philcomsat boards in the Nov. 19 stockholders’ meeting.