Lucio Tan welcomes Sandigan ruling

Business tycoon Lucio Tan hailed yesterday the decision of the Sandiganbayan to lift a sequestration order on four of his companies after the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) failed to prove that the seizure of the firms in 1986 had legal basis.

Speaking on behalf of Tan, who is presently on a business trip to Shanghai, retired Lt. Gen. Salvador Mison, spokesman for the Lucio C. Tan Group of Companies and president of Basic Holdings Corp., said that Tan welcomed the decision of the Sandiganbayan’s fifth division revoking the sequestration of the shares of stocks of Allied Banking Corp., Foremost Farms Inc., Fortune Tobacco Corp. and Shareholdings Inc.

"We thank the honorable justices for their wisdom and judgment. Now we can move forward and concentrate on the business of further improving these companies. For almost 20 years, these firms were adversely affected by negative publicity that came as a result of sequestration orders which the court has now ruled as null and void and of no legal effect," Mison said.

The PCGG is unfazed over the Sandiganbayan ruling and is mulling plans to appeal the cases before the Sandiganbayan and, if necessary, elevate the appeal to the Supreme Court.

In a phone interview, PCGG Commissioner Narciso Nario told reporters the case is not yet over. He said the four companies would remain sequestered by the PCGG until the SC orders them to withdraw their control of the companies.

For his part, PCGG Chairman Camilo Sabio refused to comment on the matter, saying they still need to discuss the PCGG’s plans. They also have yet to receive a copy of the Sandiganbayan decision.

PCGG officials also minimized Tan’s earlier threats to file cases against former PCGG commissioners for the sequestration, saying the agency was protected from such suits.

Mison said, however, in a statement that Tan has no more plans to file civil cases against former PCGG officials.

"After careful thought and deliberation, Dr. Tan also believes this is not the time to think of retribution. He has no plans now, or in the immediate future, to pursue civil cases against those whom he believes were responsible for the wrongful sequestration of the shares of stocks in these companies. For him, it is enough that justice has been served," Mison said.

He added that Tan is happy with the Sandiganbayan decision "because he has always maintained that all his companies and assets were products of honest toil and long years of hard work." — With Sandy Araneta, AFP