BIZ BUZZ: Big dividend, hot stock

Tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Megawide Construction Corp. sizzled in the stock market with gains of nearly 27 percent in recent sessions.

The stock surged after the construction and engineering giant announced a P0.50 cash dividend for common shares—a respectable 15-percent yield based on its share price the day before.

Megawide is sharing with investors part of the P14.4-billion windfall from the sale of its Cebu airport project and the market is responding accordingly.

Interestingly, there were no sudden stock price jumps immediately before the announcement, but that’s simply what market-moving news should look like if there are no insider leaks.

In any case, the year is shaping up to be a busy one for Saavedra’s group. Coming up are the P1.5-billion preferred share offer of Megawide and a planned initial public offering for his renewable energy holding firm, Citicore Renewable Energy Corp., by the middle of the year. —Miguel R. Camus

OGCC overreach?

The Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) may well be in over its head with a recent issuance requiring all state-owned enterprises to submit all draft contracts to them for review, as it may swamp the office and cause unnecessary delays.

The issue was brought up by the head of a government-owned or controlled corporation (GOCC) who told Biz Buzz that a directive was issued recently. This means they will have yet another layer of requirements to comply with.

Asked how it will impact the flow of the contractual agreements, the GOCC executive said: “We’re not sure, too, but to require all contracts for review is new. The OGCC cannot handle all those. It will cause delays.”

Upon checking with the OGCC, a representative confirmed to Biz Buzz that they did make such an issuance, citing the OGCC Memorandum Circular No. 2023-1 dated Jan. 10, 2023.

“GOCCs have the corresponding duty under the law to refer draft contracts to OGCC before they are signed by the proper signing authority,” reads a part of the memorandum circular seen by Biz Buzz.

The memorandum cited section 4.3 of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) Memorandum Circular 2018-02, which provides that “the favorable legal opinion and/or contract review by the office of the Government Corporate Counsel shall be secured by the GOCC before entering into said agreements.”

The memorandum circular also informed GOCCs to allow the OGCC 20 days to complete contract reviews.

Sought for comment, a former undersecretary for legal and legislative affairs told Biz Buzz that 20 days is a long time to review simple contracts, confirming the degree of restrictions that this regulation would bring.

The issuance, which has yet to be posted on the OGCC website as of writing, seems like a massive overreach for the institution based on these testimonies, despite it being an attempt to strictly enforce an existing policy.

According to the GCG, there are hundreds of existing GOCCS all spread out in sectors ranging from finance to trade, as well as in tourism, education, culture, gaming, energy, agriculture, fisheries, food, utilities, communication, and healthcare, among others.

Speaking of overreaching, it can be recalled that in July of last year, President Marcos himself vetoed a bill which was supposed to widen the scope of the OGCC’s functions.

Then Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles cited that one of the reasons the president rejected the measure was that it was “overbearing”.

Malacañang might want to take a look at the OGCC memorandum, as well as review the existing relevant policies as it looks like this will impede GOCC processes. —Alden M. Monzon