gavel inquirer.net file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines —Executives from GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) posted bail on Friday, November 26 over criminal cases accusing them of violating the Anti-Dummy Law.
In a statement sent to reporters, GMCAC, the co-managing body of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), said they had already posted bail. They also said they ‘will exhaust all legal means’ to dismiss the complaints lodged against some of their key officials.
“The case is now in court. With the help of our legal team, we can finally clear our names and disprove all the baseless allegations against us,” the group stated.
Police Colonel Arnel Banzon, director of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO), also confirmed to reporters that some of the 15 accused GMCAC officials had already posted bail.
Banzon said that on November 25, they received copies of the arrest warrants issued against the airport executives. On Friday, November 26, one of them turned himself before the police and posted bail amounting to P90,000.
However, the LLCPO director begged off to provide further details, adding that the case was now pending in court.
“Didto na gani mi nakahibalo kay siya na may voluntary og adto sa office para to surrender para makapyansa siya,” Banzon said.
(We only knew about this because the airport executive voluntary went to his office to surrender and to post bail.)
Branch 68 of the Regional Trial Court of Lapu-Lapu City (Branch 68) issued warrants of arrest against several executives from GMCAC and Megawide Construction Corp. over the criminal cases accusing them of violating the Anti-Dummy Law.
GMCAC is a joint-venture between Megawide and India’s GMR Infrastructure. It was created to modernize and co-manage MCIA, the country’s second-busiest airport.
Named in the arrest warrant were Megawide president and CEO Edgar Saavedra, Infrastructure Development and Chief Corporate Affairs and Branding Officer Manuel Louie B. Ferrer, Director Oliver Y. Tan, and Assistant Vice President for Corporate Finance and Planning Jez G. Dela Cruz,.
Also named as respondents were GMCAC Chief Executive Advisor Andrew Acquaah-Harrison, Srinivas Bommidala, P. Sripathy, Vivek Singhal, Ravi Bhatnagar, Ravishankar Saravu, Michael Lenane, Sudarshan MD alias Sudarshan, Madhav Doddathota, Kumar Gaurav, Magesh Nambiar alias Magesh, Perayil Kanneth, and Rajesh Madan.
The Anti-Dummy Law is a criminal statute that penalizes individuals who violate foreign equity restrictions and evade nationalization laws in regulated industries.
Megawide, in a separate statement filed before the local stock exchange, also said they were seeking to dismiss the criminal cases lodged against some of their executives. The firm added that they were not given due process in a complaint alleging violations of the Anti-Dummy law in the company’s Cebu Airport project.
“Despite the timely filing of such omnibus motion, the RTC proceeded with the issuance of the warrants of arrest,” Megawide said in its filing.
“We will diligently respond to this case in the proper fora and continue to abide by the judicial process,” it added. / with reports from Philippine Daily Inquirer
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