Naglabas ng opisyal na pahayag ang ABS-CBN Holdings matapos kumalat ang balitang nang-iwan sa ere ang ABS-CBN chairman emeritus na si Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III.
Kaugnay ito ng artikulo ng business-news columnist na si Victor Agustin sa The Philippine Star noong July 14.
May headline itong: "ABS-CBN drama: GSIS retreated, SSS stuck as Lopez parachuted."
Tila lalo itong naka-demoralize sa ABS-CBN employees na apektado sa pagsasara ng broadcast operations ng network.
Ang sinasabing pag-pull out umano ni Lopez ng kanyang shares sa ABS-CBN ay naghatid ng agam-agam na baka iniwan na sila ng big boss sa gitna ng laban.
Kinausap ng Cabinet Files si Agustin bago ilabas ang bahagi ng kanyang artikulo.
Sabi rito: "Gabby Lopez as it turned out, had quietly taken out his modest nest egg in the more controversial sister company, just as the PDR/foreign ownership issue of ABS-CBN Holdings was heating up.
"Lopez, who holds both US and Filipino passports, had 1.34 million shares of ABS-CBN Holdings as of June 2018.
"By March this year, the Filipino-American had disappeared from the shareholders list, without any disclosure from ABS-CBN Holdings as to when Gabby Lopez had made the disposal.
"Based on other regulatory disclosures, the former ABS-CBN president and chief executive transferred his ABS-CBN Holdings shareholdings to an unknown party sometime in the third quarter of 2019."
Sunod ay nakipag-ugnayan ang Cabinet Files sa ABS-CBN Corporate Communications noong Miyerkules, July 15, upang alamin ang panig ng network sa balitang inilabas ni Agustin.
Sinabi nilang nagpadala na sila ng sagot kay Agustin. Bilang respeto, hinintay ng Cabinet Files na i-publish muna ito ni Agustin sa kanyang follow-up report ngayong araw, Biyernes, July 17.
ABS-CBN HOLDINGS STATEMENT
Kalakip nito ang official statement mula kay Atty. Enrique Quiason, corporate secretary ng ABS-CBN Holdings, na siyang namamahala sa pag-isyu ng Philippine Depository Receipt o PDR.
Ang PDR ay isang dokumentong nagbibigay sa holder ng karapatang magmay-ari ng value ng PDRs na binili nito sa kumpanya.
Sinasabing isa itong passive investment na may karampatang halaga para kumita ang isang holder, ngunit hindi nagbibigay sa holder ng ownership sa kumpanya o kahit makibahagi sa management ng kumpanya.
Lumalabas ditong hindi tumpak ang impormasyong biglang naglaho si Lopez bilang shareholder ng ABS-CBN Holdings noong Marso.
Ayon kay Quiason, noon pang September 30, 2019 ay "zero" ang naitalang "PDR holdings" ni Lopez, base sa isinumite ng ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation na "Public Ownership Report of PDRs."
Paglilinaw pa ni Quiason, hindi naglabas ang ABS-CBN Holdings ng ulat tungkol sa "disposal" sa PDRs ni Lopez dahil hindi naman daw talaga ito ibinenta.
Narito ang kabuuang pahayag ni Quiason (emphasis supplied):
"We wish to clarify the statement you made in your column published on July 14 that by March this year, the Filipino-American had disappeared from the shareholders list, without any disclosure from ABS-CBN Holdings as to when Gabby Lopez had made the disposal.
"First, based on the Public Ownership Report of PDRs (Philippine Depositary Receipts) filed by ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation as of September 30, 2019, the one submitted after the report dated June 30, 2019 which you referred to in your column, the PDR holdings of Mr. Eugenio Lopez III already appeared to be zero.
"Second, upon verification, the said PDRs were deposited in Mr. Lopez’s account with his stockbroker, which subsequently lodged them with the Philippine Central Depository.
"There was no disclosure as to their disposal because they have not been sold and still belong to Mr. Lopez.
"He did not sell them although they are no longer registered in his name.
"Even if the PDRs are no longer registered under his name, his ownership should still be reflected in the Public Ownership Report."
GABBY LOPEZ'S LATEST PDRS
Sa follow-up report ni Victor Agustin, nakalap daw nito ang latest update sa kabuuang PDRs na pag-aari ni Gabby Lopez.
Lumalabas na pansamantalang itinago raw ni Lopez ang pag-aari nitong PDRs mula noong 2019 hanggang sa nitong July 2020.
Mula sa higit one million PDRs noong June 2019, lumobo pa raw ito sa higit 3 million PDRs as of July 2020, o isang taon mula nang biglang maging "zero" ang nakatalang PDRs ni Lopez sa libro ng ABS-CBN Holdings.
Tanong ni Agustin sa kanyang column, "The bigger public policy question now is why would the country's leading broadcast tycoon, a US passport holder like dual-citizen Maria Ressa, hide his ownership of PDRs designed for foreign investors on the eve of a rancorous congressional hearing?"
Dagdag ni Agustin matapos niyang banggitin ang kabuuang PDRs ngayon ni Lopez, "As Ka Tunying and Ka Gerry would have put it, lumago pa ang Kapamilya."
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