Biz Buzz: ‘Twisting the truth.’ Again.

Two weeks ago, the new board of the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines issued a statement saying that they had filed “criminal and administrative complaints” before the Office of the Ombudsman against 25 officers of the bank and three private individuals over the purportedly “behest” P660-million loan to businessman Roberto Ongpin.

It added that the criminal complaint “was signed by DBP’s chair Jose Nuñez and DBP president Francisco del Rosario Jr.”

Now, hear this. According to our sources, there was, in fact, no complaint-affidavit filed with the Ombudsman over the issue. What? Yes, NO complaint-affidavit.

It seems that what the DBP board did was simply to send the Ombudsman a copy of the Commission on Audit report on the bank along with a “transmittal letter” signed by Messrs. Nuñez and Del Rosario. The last time we checked, a transmittal letter is nowhere near a complaint-affidavit, much less a set of “criminal and administrative complaints” that the bank claimed to have filed in its press release.

Like in its previous claim that the probe on the loans was prompted by a letter from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the new guys at DBP have once more been tripped by their own statements, which can only be charitably described as disingenuous. “Huli ka… ulit.”—Daxim L. Lucas

DBP ‘unofficial’

And another disingenuous maneuver? Well, it looks like the officers and employees of DBP are also up in arms over the role being assumed by a private lawyer in the affairs of the bank.

These DBP staffers pooled their funds to pay for a print ad last week saying that lawyer Zenaida Ongkiko-Acorda of the Ongkiko Kalaw Manhit Acorda law office—who appears in public both as the bank’s spokesperson and lawyer—has been “causing confusion” among the bank’s employees and the public.

According to the DBP staffers, Ongkiko-Acorda does not appear in the bank’s roster either as a lawyer or spokesperson and management has no record of her formal engagement either as counsel, spokesperson or even in the catch-all role of “consultant.”

More importantly, the staffers said that there was no record anywhere of the lawyer’s fees or the fees paid by the bank for its ad that was published in the Inquirer last week.

The DBP staffers also pointed out that a government entity must first secure approvals from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and the Commission on Audit before it could hire external counsel. Supposedly, no such records could be found anywhere in DBP.

This, of course, begs the question: If there are no records in DBP’s books, who is paying for those newspaper ads claiming to be official statements from the bank? And if it isn’t in the records of the bank, who is paying for Ongkiko-Acorda’s services in DBP’s anti-Rey David, anti-Bobby Ongpin drive? Hmmmm.—Daxim L. Lucas

Fact vs opinion

Lawyer Benilda Tejada, DBP’s chief legal counsel and boss of the lawyer who took his own life amid a scrutiny of alleged behest loans in the state-owned bank, has written a 10-page narration of the harrowing events leading to the suicide of Benjamin Pinpin.

Tejada has vowed to fight to ensure that Pinpin’s death during what many employees considered to be a frantic witch hunt unleashed by the new DBP board would not be in vain.

This developed as differing interpretations were sprouting on the circumstances leading to Pinpin’s suicide. For instance, one note is circulating within DBP authored by a Dra. Rosemari Bejar opining that Pinpin had executed the controversial affidavit to tell the truth about the alleged behest loans. The “Reflections” of this doctor, one who had seen Pinpin shortly before he took his own life, also apparently suggested that Pinpin had not revoked his affidavit.

Tejada countered in her testament that the best evidence would be the documents themselves, consisting of the three suicide letters found by Pinpin’s wife and the fourth one (addressed to no one in particular) found at the scene of suicide. “Enough lies have been peddled on Benjie’s death. Lies aggravated by people, who perhaps to assuage or calm their own conscience on their participation that led to Benjie’s execution of the affidavit (which he said was a wrong choice and which was beyond the truth) and which ultimately led to his death, have been circulated in the bank. Again, I urge all to read carefully Benjie’s own words and hear it from him first hand and not be deluded by interpretations of people who have no right to make legal conclusions!”—Doris Dumlao

Jack of all trades

Chinoy (Chinese-Filipino) businessman Jacinto “Jack” Ng Sr., the founder of biscuit manufacturer Rebisco group of companies, is putting more chips into  two new sectors—renewable energy and tourism.

Industry sources said the businessman, who also owns the hotel/service apartment property managed by Oakwood in Ortigas, said this was just the tip of the iceberg as Ng plans to build a chain of hotels, thus soon likely venturing into Cebu, Davao and Manila.

The low-profile Ng, who is also the key stockholder at Asia United Bank, (AUB) is among the 40 richest men in the country (based on Forbes’ ranking) with an estimated net worth of $115 million. Now he is also keen on deploying some cash to develop a solar power project in Cavite in partnership with a European development firm.

Most of his businesses are privately held but if there’s one that will likely make a stock debut first, sources familiar with Ng said AUB would be it. We’ll watch out for Jack’s new trades.

Brinkmanship

How serious is businessman Manuel Pangilinan with his threat to shelve the controversial merger between his Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and the Gokongwei-owned Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc.?

No one knows for sure at this point. But it is becoming increasingly clear that the tycoon’s patience is running short with the slow action of the Aquino administration, in general, and the National Telecommunications Commission, in particular.

The completion of the P69-billion deal for 51 percent of Digitel has already been moved twice (by a total of two months), with the NTC taking its sweet time in ruling on the time-critical issue.

Of course, word on the street is that that regulators—along with Malacañang—are favorably inclined to grant at least some demands of Ayala-controlled Globe Telecom Inc., including possibly stripping the merged PLDT-Digitel entity of one previous radio frequency (making the merger less palatable and, in a way, more expensive).

There is also the issue of PLDT’s famous dividend payout (70 percent of core earnings, minimum), which is being held up by the lack of clarity on just what the final ownership structure will look like.

In any case, expect the exasperated MVP to come back with a vengeance—either in the telecommunications industry or in his other concerns—if he does, indeed, decide to move on from this deal with the Gokongwei group (which may have to rethink its financial plans if the merger falls through).—Daxim L. Lucas

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