Enrile, Lopez family trade barbs on Meralco ownership

The Lopez family belied yesterday claims made by former senator Juan Ponce Enrile that the government compensated them for relinquishing control of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) during martial law.

Enrile urged the government yesterday to take over the utility firm to protect consumers from "unreasonable" electricity rates, adding the government is rightful owner of the company and he was willing to debate the Lopezes in public to prove his claim.

He earlier said the Lopezes signed documents selling Meralco to the government of then President Ferdinand Marcos. "I have all the documents with me," he told a media forum in Manila yesterday.

Reacting to Enrile’s claims, Oscar Lopez, chairman of the Lopez group of companies, likened the Meralco "sale" to the government to "something similar to a kidnap-for-ransom situation."

"Sure, my father (the late Eugenio Lopez Sr.) signed some documents and letters that were prepared by Marcos’ henchmen and forced upon (us) for signature. We never denied that," Lopez said in a statement.

He said his father signed the documents shortly after martial law because "Enrile, the martial law administrator acting for the mastermind of the kidnap for ransom gang, was keeping my brother Geny (the late Eugenio Lopez Jr.) hostage at Fort Bonifacio" and that the military had "taken over Meralco and all its facilities."

Enrile served as Marcos’ defense minister until the dictator’s ouster in 1986.

Shortly after martial law was declared, Eugenio Lopez Jr. was arrested on charges of subversion.

"When my father was interviewed by Nick Benosa of Philippine News on Dec. 31, 1974, he said in no uncertain terms that ‘the Meralco sale was a giveaway to save the life of my son.’ What is an old sick man like my father to do? His son was being kept hostage and being threatened for execution. The business had been taken over by brute military force. Anyone in that situation would sign anything under such duress," Lopez said.

However, Marcos "double-crossed my father by keeping Geny hostage even after he signed everything they wanted him to sign," Lopez continued, adding that some kidnap gangs today "had better sense of honor and fairness because they released the victims after a deal was presumably made."

Lopez said his father was "forced" to accept a downpayment of P10,000 for Meralco which then had a purchase price of P150 million. It was agreed that the government would pay the balance "when able."

But in 1985, the government defaulted in its payments, according to a statement from the Lopez group of companies.

"In accordance with the share purchase agreement, the default caused unpaid shares to revert to the (Lopez-controlled First Philippine Holdings Corporation) to the extent of the unpaid balance," the statement said. – With Sammy Santos