The president and general manager of the state-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) on Monday filed libel cases against four columnists, three editors, and the leader of a militant teachers' group in the Pasay City Prosecutor's Office. 

Winston Garcia lodged separate complaints against the journalists, saying that their articles on the sale of GSIS remaining shares in Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to San Miguel Corp. (SMC) last November 5 were "libelous and defamatory."

The libel respondents were columnists Federico Pascual Jr. and Ramon Lim of the Philippine star, columnist Dan Mariano and editor-in-chief Rene Bas of the Manila Times, columnists Raul Valino and Lito Gagni and opinion editor Lyn Ressureccion of the Business Mirror, and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) president Antonio Tinio.

Valino and Mariano quoted Tinio as saying that the sale of Meralco shares to San Miguel was "inimical to the interest of public school teachers."

Garcia said that the columnists libeled him when they wrote that the deal shortchanged GSIS and placed teachers at a disadvantage. He added that the respondents and Tinio made false, misleading, and utterly baseless insinuations, surmises, and conclusions maliciously designed to engender in readers' minds that he committed serious irregularities and criminal wrongdoings.

"This is confederated libel committed by different columnists writing practically the same unfolded allegations against the GSIS. We can only surmise that the unseen forces behind the anti-GSIS demolition job had fed them the patent lies contained in their misleading columns," he said in a statement.

The case stemmed from the decision of GSIS to sell its remaining 27 percent stake in Meralco to SMC at P90 per share. Contrary to what the articles claimed, Garcia said that GSIS' sale of its Meralco shares was a very good deal for its members, since he sold the shares P46 higher than their P44 value in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

"By no stretch of the imagination can such sale at a premium be considered as disadvantageous to the GSIS," he said.

Garcia said that the sale totaled P30.8 billion, with P27.09 as the principal amount. He made clear that the P3.76 billion balance was not a commission but interest payable to the GSIS in three years at 7 percent per annum.

"How can there be conflict of interest when no personal benefit can ever be shown to have been derived by me from the sale of GSIS shares to SMC? The entire proceeds of the sale, including the P3.7 billion expected interest will go entirely to GSIS. I have never participated in the deliberations before the SMC board concerning the questioned transaction," he said.