Palace concerned by SC ruling on foreign investments in PLDT

MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino indicated on Thursday that Malacañang has been studying the possibility of intervening in the Supreme Court ruling that ordered the Securities and Exchange Office to find out whether the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., violated the Constitutional limit of 40 percent foreign ownership in businesses in the country.

The President said that he has asked Palace lawyers to secure a copy of the high court decision on the PLDT case “so we can study it.”  The President expressed concern for the possible impact of the Supreme Court ruling on the country’s economy.

“This is no secret that Mr. (Manny) Pangilinan and his group are some of the most active business groups within the country. They are involved in so many projects and of course if there is an issue of ownership, there is disruption,” President Aquino told reporters in an interview in the Palace.

He said that all he knew about the ruling was that the SEC was being asked to look into the extent of the foreign ownership of PLDT.

The President said he would rather not comment further until getting a copy of the ruling and having government lawyers pore over the implications of the ruling.

Asked whether the Palace was checking if the government could help in resolving the issue, President Aquino replied: “Definitely.”

“Don’t forget the first priority, and the first thing that I promised was job generation,” the Chief Executive said as he proudly noted that the unemployment rate in the country had slightly lowered.

From 7.3 percent in the first semester in 2010, it’s down to 7.2 percent for the same period this year, according to Aquino.

He also noted that the lowering of the unemployment rate happened without the surge in economic activity usually brought by an election season as what happened in the first half of 2010.