By HENRY EMPEÑO | 

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Development and Management Corporation, Inc. (SBDMC), operator of the Subic Bay Gateway Park in this free port, said it owns the controversial 25% shareholding in a company here that a lawyer had cited in a graft complaint against the chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

In an August 29 letter to the SBMA Board of Directors and copy-furnished the office of President Duterte, SBDMC Chairman Chin-Der Ou clarified that SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma does not own the shares at TECO (Philippines) 3C & Appliances, Inc. (TECO 3C) where she sits as nominee director.

Ou explained that under the articles of incorporation of TECO 3C when it was registered in 2008, all nominee directors hold 25 shares each.

“While the directors representing SBDMC each holds nominal 25 shares, the true and legal ownership of these shares still remains with SBDMC,” he added.

The SBDMC issued the clarification after Manila-based lawyer Raymund Palad filed a case against Eisma before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly failing to divest her interest in TECO 3C.

Palad said that in being a shareholder of TECO 3C, Eisma committed dishonesty, gross misconduct, violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, as well as conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the government.

The SBDMC chief, however, clarified that the SBDMC was formed as a result of a joint venture agreement (JVA) between the SBMA, which has 49% interest, and United Development Corporation (UDC), which owns 51% interest.

“Pursuant to the JVA, SBMA is represented by four nominees to the SBDMC Board of Directors,” Ou said, adding that because the SBDMC owns 30% of the capital stock of TECO 3C, it was entitled to two seats in the TECO 3C board in proportion to its shareholdings.

“To respect the JV, it has been the practice of SBDMC from the very beginning to nominate one director each from UDC and SBMA,” Ou added.

Under this set-up, the SBDMC board of directors confirmed in 2017 the nomination of Eisma and the re-appointment of SBDMC President Jeff Lin to represent SBDMC’s 30% shares in TECO 3C.

Meanwhile, the SBMA board of directors duly ratified Eisma’s nomination to the TECO 3C board on March 21, 2017, according to a certification signed by Atty. Dennis Diño, then acting SBMA corporate secretary.

For her part, Eisma stressed that she is simply representing SBMA’s interest in TECO 3C as a nominal shareholder, and that this was not the first time that an SBMA official held shares and sat as a director in the company.