Airport execs facing arrest for alleged violation of Anti-Dummy Law

CEBU, Philippines — The Regional Trial Court in Lapu-Lapu City has ordered the arrest of 15 officials of GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) for alleged violation of the Anti-Dummy Law.

RTC Branch 68 presiding judge Ferdinand Collantes issued the warrant in line with the charges filed against the officials for allegedly allowing foreigners to manage and operate the Cebu airport.

Named as subjects in the November 25, 2021 warrant are Edgar Saavedra, Manuel Louie B. Ferrer, Oliver Y. Tan, JEZ Dela Cruz, Srinivas Bommidala, P. Sripathy, Vivek Singhal, Andrew Acquaah-Harrison, Ravi Bhatnagar, Ravishankar Saravu, Michael Lenane, Sudarshan MD alias Sudarshan Madhav Doddathota, Kumar Gaurav, Magesh Nambiar alias Magesh Perayil Kanneth, and Rajesh Madan.

Anna Salgado, Corporate Communications Manager of GMR-Megawide, said Saavedra, Ferrer, Tan, Dela Cruz, and Harrison posted the recommended bail of P90,000 Friday.

Harrison is chief executive adviser while the rest are directors of GMCAC.

Muddling Credibility

In a separate statement, GMCAC said the issuance of the warrant was a “procedural step to acquire jurisdiction over the persons” involved in the case.

GMCAC described the issuance as the latest in a long line of attempts to bring Megawide's reputation and credibility down, which reportedly began when it bid to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“We will diligently respond to this case in the proper fora and abide by the judicial process,” the statement read.

It added that GMCAC transformed the Mactan-Cebu International Airport into the Philippines' only internationally-acclaimed and award-winning airport, and have done so through a firm adherence to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, particularly as Megawide and GMR are widely-held publicly-listed companies.

“Megawide and GMR honor the trust of the Filipino public and have always done so in all its projects,” the statement read further.

Former MCIAA General Manager, Atty. Steve Dicdican, who was suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to the case was not included as subject of the warrant.

Dicdican has since been replaced by Julius Neri.

Defense

Dicdican’s then assistant manager, Atty. Glenn Napuli, who was also suspended for six months in relation to the case, has defended his former boss. He said GMCAC has never operated the MCIA as what it has been operating partially are only Passenger Terminals 1 and 2.

This is because MCIAA still retains the Security and Regulatory functions in T1 and T2 and what is performed by GMCAC is only the terminals’ commercial aspects.

He said it is still MCIAA that fixes the rates of the regulatory fees (Terminal Fee and Tacking Fee) for the use of T1 and T2 and GMCAC officers and employees cannot even enter the T1 and T2 without approval from MCIAA.

MCIAA also issues policies and regulations that GMCAC will have to comply.

Napuli said Dicdican was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte only in 2016, two years after the PPP project was awarded to GMCAC. Dicdican was not among those who crafted the PPP contract as it was signed and approved during the time of former President Benigno Aquino in 2014.

Napuli said this contrary to the allegations made by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), MCIAA, with its 894 personnel (regular and outsourced), continues to operate and manage the airport and never GMCAC or any foreigner. – JMO (FREEMAN)