Megawide Construction Corp. subsidiary GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) will “exhaust all legal remedies available” to counter the alleged Anti-Dummy Law violations that have been hurled against its directors.
Emphasizing they are innocent and are compliant with the law, the directors said they are confident that the case will be dismissed, given the “baseless allegations” against them.
“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 directors said.
On November 25, despite the timely filing of the omnibus motion for the dismissal of the case for lack of probable cause and due process, the Regional Trial Court of Lapu-Lapu issued warrants of arrest against the Megawide officials Edgar Saavedra, Louie Ferrer, Oliver Tan, and Jez dela Cruz.
GMR officials who were also included in the case are 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.
Lawyer Larry Iguidez Jr. filed the case last year, alleging that GMCAC violated foreign equity restrictions.
“Prior to receiving the resolution, none of the private respondents obtained or received any subpoena or order from the Office of the Ombudsman directing the submission of their respective counter-affidavits. As a result, the private respondents were not given the opportunity to present their defenses and participate in the preliminary investigation,” Megawide said.
The respondents have also filed a petition for review with the Department of Justice assailing the finding of probable cause.
“This is the latest development in a long line of attempts to bring down Megawide’s reputation and credibility that, will be recalled, began with its bid for the rehabilitation of Naia,” Megawide said.
Megawide previously submitted an unsolicited proposal to develop and operate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), banking on its experience and expertise in modernizing and operating the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
“We will not allow this case to distract us from our mission of providing first-world services and facilities to passengers of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. We also assure the public that it is business as usual in the country’s award-winning airport terminals,” the directors said.
The airport will continue to operate despite the issues against its directors. “GMCAC transformed MCIA into the Philippines’ only internationally-acclaimed and award-winning airport. The feat was accomplished with a firm adherence to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, especially since Megawide and GMR are both widely-held publicly-listed companies,” the directors said.