Ex-SEC chief: Erap got P2B+ from sale of PLDT shares

A former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission reiterated Wednesday his previous testimony that former President Joseph Estrada received billions of pesos in commissions for the sale of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) shares to Metro Pacific Co. in 1998. In a phone-patch interview with GMA News' Arnold Clavio, former SEC chairman Perfecto Yasay said Estrada used his influence so that the sequestered shares of PLDT would be sold to Metro Pacific. "Information reaching my office as the SEC chair showed that the commission for the deal was P3 billion," Yasay said. Yasay added he obtained information about a controversy over the sharing scheme of the reported P3-billion commission. “Ayon sa impormasyon na natanggap ko, nagalit pa raw si Erap kung bakit P 1 billion lang ang natanggap niya na dapat ay P3 billion. Pero sinabi ni Mark Jimenez, ang broker sa deal, na hinati-hati sa tatlo ang pera: P1B para kay Ronnie Zamora, P1B kay Jimenez and P1 billion kay Estrada," Yasay said. (I heard that Estrada complained why he only got P1 billion, but Mark Jimenez – who brokered the deal – said the amount was divided into three equal shares: for Ronnie Zamora, Jimenez and Estrada.) At the time, Zamora was Erap's executive secretary.

Yasay said that Estrada did not agree with the sharing scheme and took Jimenez’s share and around half of Zamora’s. "I objected [to the deal] because deals like that needed to be done with full disclosure. But President Estrada suspended me," Yasay said. He added that by the time his suspension was over, the deal for the sale of PLDT shares was already done. During Estrada’s impeachment trial in January 2001, Yasay testified on how Estrada sided with Metro Pacific for it to have control over PLDT. He likewise said he had been slapped with two suspension orders when he tried to investigate whether the transaction complied with the Securities Code. Following Yasay’s testimony, the Senate summoned PLDT president and chief executive officer Manuel Pangilinan to testify in the impeachment court to shed light on Estrada’s alleged involvement in the said transaction. Pangilinan’s testimony, however, did not materialize after Estrada's allies at the Senate refused to open a second envelope containing bank accounts during the impeachment proceedings. This triggered the five-day EDSA Dos uprising that led to Estrada’s ouster. Lacson speech In his privilege speech on Monday, Senator Panfilo Lacson claimed that the Yuchengco family was pressured to convey PTIC's 7.75-percent holdings corresponding to about 2.018-million PLDT shares. Lacson added that Yuchengco "was pressed to sign a waiver of his right of first refusal over the PTIC shares of the Cojuangco-Meer group." [See: Lacson-Erap engage in mud-slinging brawl] On Tuesday, business tycoon Alfonso Yuchengco confirmed Lacson's allegations that Estrada coerced his family into selling its shares in PLDT. But shortly after Lacson delivered his speech on Monday, the PLDT denied claims that the Yuchengco family was coerced into selling its holdings in a company that owned PLDT shares. The transaction between the group of Manuel V. Pangilinan – who chairs PLDT – and the Yuchengco Group – which owns equity in the Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp. (PTIC) that in turn holds PLDT shares – was "commercial in nature," PLDT director Ray Espinosa said. "Since the completion of the purchase way back on November 24, 1998, we have had a continuing and good relation with the Yuchengco Group of companies," Espinosa said in a phone interview aired over 24 Oras that day. [See: PLDT denies Lacson's claim, says deal is 'aboveboard'] - GMANews.TV