PALACE DEFENDS FILING ANTI-DUMMY LAW CHARGES VS PIATCO, FRAPORT AG
MANILA, JANUARY 25, 2011 (STAR) By Aurea Calica - Malacañang said yesterday the Department of Justice's decision to file Anti-Dummy Law charges against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) and its German investor, Fraport AG was a way to show that corruption and irregularities would not be tolerated even among investors.
"You have legal issues concerning what happened. We want to make people who were responsible for this be accountable whether investor or not. Just because they are investors doesn't mean they can violate the law," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.
Piatco scored the Aquino government for using the anti-dummy law as a "weapon of terror" that it could use "against our friendly foreign investors."
It also said government lawyers in cahoots with favored business personalities were behind the charges against Piatco and Fraport officials.
Violations of the 40 percent cap on foreign ownership in Philippine corporations were set by the Constitution, Foreign Investments Act and the Anti-Dummy Law.
Piatco's German partner, Fraport, has admitted at the International Center for Settlement based in Washington that its aggregate investments in Piatco and the cascade companies reached over 61 percent. But it stressed that this should not be considered as a violation of the Anti-Dummy Law since the Philippines allowed a liberal computation of foreign investments.
Fraport claimed its investment in Piatco itself did not exceed 40 percent.
However, a tribunal that heard the case filed by Fraport has ruled in 2007 that Fraport still violated the Anti-Dummy Law since the Filipino and German firms executed secret shareholder agreements that assigned to Fraport the operational, financial and managerial control of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
In December 2010, a separate tribunal annulled the decision of the first tribunal citing Fraport's lack of opportunity to present evidence to refute the basis of the violation.
The Philippines has won an arbitration case in Singapore versus Piatco but an expropriation proceeding is still pending before the Pasay City regional trial court to determine just compensation for the builders of NAIA 3.
Solgen slams paid ad by Piatco By Aie Balagtas See (The Philippine Star) Updated January 25, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0)
MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has slammed the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) for reportedly trying to influence public opinion with a newspaper advertisement on its compensation claims.
In a seven-page motion and manifestation filed last Friday, the OSG asked Pasay City Judge Eugenio de la Cruz to prevent parties involved in an expropriation case filed by the government from discussing the merits of the case outside the court.
"While this honorable court is still in the process of determining just compensation, Piatco, in the said paid advertisement (not in The STAR) discussed the merits of the instant case and offered figures which it must allegedly get from the government and the people," the motion read.
"Evidently, this is an attempt to influence the outcome of the case and to condition the mind of the public in the event that this honorable court decides against Piatco, Takenako and Asahikosa's computation of just compensation," it added.
In its ad last Jan. 19, Piatco claimed the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is "usurping" its rights as the terminal's legitimate owner by "granting concession and leases to several private entities over the NAIA Terminal 3, without the knowledge of Piatco, and without accounting for the rental fees and charges" in violation of a Supreme Court decision in December 2005. The decision prohibited the government from "performing acts of ownership such as awarding concessions or leasing any part of the NAIA 3 to other parties."
The OSG, in its motion, also demanded that Piatco "present its arguments and evidence before this honorable court and not in the court of public opinion."
"It must be remembered that since it is the people's money which will eventually be used to pay Piatco, the determination of just compensation must be based on evidence, laws, jurisprudence and the best interest of the people and not on a public relation stint in media of an interested business enterprise," the OSG said.
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