Lopez denies trying to bribe CA justice
abs-cbnnews.com | 08/01/2008 5:22 PM
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Manila Electric Corp. (Meralco) Chairman Manolo Lopez denied Friday any involvement in an alleged P10 million bribery attempt of a Court of Appeals (CA) justice in the battle for control of the country's largest power distribution firm.
In a press conference, Lopez said he was in the US from June 27 to July 13 for a medical check-up, which means it was impossible for him to be waiting in a car at the Ateneo Law School in Makati when an alleged Meralco emissary, Francis de Borja, reportedly offered a P10 million bribe to CA Justice Jose Sabio.
De Borja allegedly offered Sabio the P10 million bribe so that Meralco would get a favorable decision from other CA justices in its battle against the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for control of the Meralco board.
According to Sabio, this bribery attempt by De Borja allegedly occurred on July 1 at the Ateneo Law School while Lopez was waiting in a car outside.
Lopez called this allegation "malicious" and "pure fabrication." He presented his boarding passes to prove he was in the US on July 1.
He also said he has not authorized De Borja to represent him or Meralco in any legal case, pointing out that De Borja is not even a lawyer.
De Borja defends Lopez
In an interview Friday on ABS-CBN News Channel's (ANC) Dateline Philippines, De Borja denied offering a P10 million bribe to Sabio in their July 1 meeting.
He also denied telling Sabio that Lopez was waiting in a car at the Ateneo Law School in Makati when he allegedly made the bribe offer.
When asked if Lopez was waiting in his car when he met with Sabio, De Borja said: "No definitely not...He [Sabio] says that Manolo was waiting for me in my car. I never said it. And if you know Manolo...Can you imagine somebody like Manolo being made to wait in a car? Di ba, yung pagka aristocratic ni Manolo, maghihintay sa kotse? The fact is, he was abroad."
Asked why he sought out Sabio to discuss the Meralco case, he said, "Just curiousity."
De Borja said he was a high school classmate of Lopez at the Ateneo and that their wives are members of a socio-civic group, Martha's Vineyard.
He admitted being "sympathetic" to what the Lopezes were fighting for in the Meralco-GSIS case, but he said "Lopez never asked for his help."
De Borja denied Sabio's "outrageous claim" that implies he was a "messenger sent by Meralco" to help win the case at the CA.
He also belied Sabio's allegation that he called a mutual friend and his cousin, Evelyn Clavano, to help convince Sabio to accept the alleged P10 million bribe offer.
On Sabio's challenge for them to take a lie detector test, De Borja said he was willing to do so as long as it will be done by a foreign entity and not by a local agency.
De Borja wondered why Sabio wants to "hang on tenaciously" on the Meralco-GSIS case before the CA. In his affidavit, De Borja said Sabio told him that he was being pressured and was offered a Supreme Court post to rule in favor of the government.
He said the CA's decision in favor of Meralco was a "good decision", adding that the CA, in its meeting Thursday, had said the decision stays since it has been promulgated.
The CA decision effectively blocked GSIS's attempt to nullify the Meralco stockholder's May 27 meeting, which led to the Lopez family retaining control of the Meralco board.
De Borja said the allegations of bribery made by Sabio were just part of the GSIS's attempt to destroy the credibility of the CA decision and to win the case.
"Now that they lost it, they're trying to show there's something wrong with the decision," he said.
Sabio assails De Borja
In a press conference Friday covered live by ANC, Sabio detailed his conversations and meetings with De Borja to deny that he asked for a P50 million bribe to favor the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) in the battle for control of Meralco.
Sabio said it was De Borja who "kept pestering" him about the businessman's P10 million bribe offer to give up the chairmanship of the CA division that was supposed to rule on the Meralco-GSIS case.
He said De Borja even called a mutual friend, Evelyn Clavano, to try to convince him to accept the bribe offer, but he still declined.
"I can charge him with bribery, or perjury because he told a lie in a sworn statement," Sabio said.
Sabio challenged De Borja to "submit to a lie detector test to see who's telling the truth."
In their July 1 meeting at the Ateneo Law School in Makati, Sabio said De Borja told him he was ready to give him the P10 million and that Meralco chairman Manuel Lopez was allegedly waiting in a car outside when that incident happened.
Sabio said De Borja told him that Lopez was then "on his way to America."
De Borja told him that for the Lopez family, control of Meralco is a "matter of life and death" considering what the Lopezes went through during the martial law period when they lost control of Meralco.
Sabio said he felt insulted and hurt by De Borja's bribery attempt. "I thought he respected me," he said.
After finally being convinced that Sabio could not be bought, De Borja reportedly told Sabio, "I salute you" but "if you will not accept, we will look for other ways."
In one conversation, De Borja said "It would be a waste if you don't accept the P10 million. Your children may blame you later."
Sabio said it was the powerful law firm, Villaraza Cruz Marcelo & Angangco (CVC) law office that was allegedly behind De Borja, and that his life could be in danger due to his disclosures and his call for a review of the CA's decision favoring Meralco.
He also said he is "up against the billions of the Lopezes so I am up against everything."
But he said he would stand by his principles and that "God is behind me."
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