PLDT loses case in High Court

It’s a decision that top Filipino businessman Manny V. Pangilinan once described as “economic suicide” that would scare away foreign investors. In a vote of 10-3 with one abstention, the Supreme Court affirmed an earlier verdict against the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) and its foreign shareholders. The government’s 37-percent stake in PLDT had been sold to the Pangilinan-led and Hong Kong-based First Pacific group, which was the basis of the court case. A former PLDT stockholder had told the Court that the sale increased the foreigners’ stake in PLDT to more than 80% – a violation of the constitutional limit of 40%. SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio penned the decision, which is to be released on October 12.


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