Name all the guilty in BW mess - solon

Expose all guilty parties, please.

An administration congressman made this appeal to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday, urging the two agencies to reveal all those responsible for manipulating the share prices of Best World (BW) Resources Inc.

This developed as PSE vice president Ruben Almadro said he plans to file a P500-million counter-suit against presidential friend and BW official Dante Tan."I'm serious," Almadro said.

Bataan Rep. Antonio Roman, an administration lawmaker, prodded the PSE and the SEC to bare the names of all those involved in the BW scam.

"All the transactions in the stock exchange can be documented and therefore all and not only some of the criminals should be named and punished," he said.

Roman explained that if some of those linked to the anomaly will not be exposed, "the investing public will see this as a whitewash for the benefit of the well-connected culprits."

The former finance undersecretary stressed that there should be no selective justice and punishment for those behind the scandal, the biggest to rock the local stock market in years.

"There is no place for swindlers in the stock market," he said, adding that the PSE and the SEC should wrap up their investigation soon to allow the market to finally start recovery.

"As of now, it is very evident that investors' confidence has been lost," he said.

Another lawmaker, Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno, said Congress deserves to know the truth behind the BW scandal before it can approve the proposed amendments to the Securities Act.

He said if the truth does not surface -- or if the PSE and SEC inquiries are muddled -- then lawmakers would not be able to put in place enough safeguards in the revised law to prevent a repetition of the BW stock fraud.

Tan earlier initiated a P105-million class suit against Almadro and the PSE with the Pasig Regional Trial Court and was able to obtain a 72-hour temporary restraining order on the PSE fact-finding investigation on BW.

The restraining order expired yesterday, and Pasig Judge Jose Hernandez has given all parties until 4:30 p.m. today to submit their respective positions before deciding whether to extend the order or not.

Almadro said that the PSE Business Conduct and Ethics Committee will continue deliberations on the BW case. In the meantime, he pointed out, he would be suing Tan for making insinuations that he amassed wealth as a result of the PSE investigation.

The PSE submitted a report early this month implicating Tan, BW president Eduardo Lim Jr., and eight stock brokers of the firm in a complex trading scheme that allegedly involved manipulation of the price of BW's stocks.

Tan, however, contended that if the the report was indeed based on facts, then it should not have centered only on him since he is not even connected with any stock brokerage firm.

He insisted that from Sept. 27 to Oct. 14 last year, he was accumulating and not selling BW shares when its price peaked at P107 a piece. He said he even lost P2 billion when the stock price of BW plunged as soon as Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho left the country later that month.

"I must have been the lousiest manipulator in the world. Why should I keep buying when the stock is falling?" Tan said.

Tan has urged the PSE to focus its probe on the dealings of the so-called Samurai group which he said is composed of influential brokers who could have manipulated the price of BW stocks.

Meanwhile, SEC Chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. criticized Sen. Raul Roco, chairman of the Senate committee on banks and financial institutions, for divulging the results of the PSE's probe on BW. He also criticized the senator for conducting a public investigation on the scandal which he said has posed a conflict with his agency's inquiry.

"I dare him (Roco) to take over the investigation being done by the SEC," said the visibly irked Yasay. "I honestly feel that conducting an investigation is like conditioning the mind of the public and keying them on what to expect. He is not helping us at all. He only makes our job more difficult."

Roco earlier summoned several stock brokers to a Senate hearing on the BW scandal, thereby revealing their connection to the alleged anomaly.

Yasay said these brokers were not supposed to be identified yet, nor were they authorized to issue documents related to the BW scam.

And he said that as far as SEC is concerned, it will continue to keep its probe in a confidential manner. "We cannot divulge information just like that. It's not going to be fair," he said. -- With Conrado Diaz, Rocel Felix