July 14, 2013
7:59 pm [ manilatimes.net ]
by JOMAR
CANLAS
THE Uniwide
Group will seek redress before the Court of Appeals over the alleged inaction
of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the firm’s settling most of
its debts and boosting its revenues.
In a statement,
Uniwide said that it is set to elevate the case before the Court of Appeals
after the SEC ordered the termination of the Uniwide Group’s 15-year
rehabilitation plan in apparent disregard for the 2012 findings of the
SEC-appointed receiver committee.
The committee
had held that the retail operations were “still viable, as the conglomerate had
already trimmed its secured debts by 80 percent to just P1.36 billion and
initiated aggressive steps to boost revenues.”
The Uniwide
Group had repeatedly appealed to the SEC to allow them to withdraw from its
receivership even before the SEC’s receiver panel submitted a 2012 annual
report favorable to the group.
But the SEC
still terminated Uniwide’s recovery plan altogether, dissolved its
six-member-companies, and liquidated all of the assets of the country’s once
dominant retail chain.
The
six-member-companies—Uniwide Sales Inc., Uniwide Holdings Inc., Naic Resources
and Development Corp., Uniwide Sales Realty and Resources Corp., First Paragon
Corp. and Uniwide Sales Warehouse Club Inc.—have elevated the case to the
appellate court.
In its May 30
en banc ruling, the SEC ruled that “petitioners-appellants can no longer be
rescued.”
The ruling
was signed by SEC chairperson Teresita Herbosa and commissioners Juanita Cueto,
Manuel Huberto Gaite, Eladio Jala and Antonieta Ibe.
However, the
three-year-old recommendation was obviously overtaken by the 2012 year-end
report by the SEC-assigned receiver ruling, which said that the conglomerate
had pruned its secured debts to just P1.36 billion, after settling P6.160
billion of its P7.525 billion loans, mostly through dacion en pago (property
for debt) arrangements.
The
SEC-assigned rehabilitation receiver, lawyer Julio Elamparo, said in his annual
report to the SEC that the remaining P1.364 billion in secured credits covers
the amount Uniwide still owes its last two remaining creditor-banks—the
Philippine National Bank, or PNB (P832.96 million) and Allied Bank (P360.65
million).
“Uniwide will
continue to cater to the C and D [income bracket] market, which are mostly the
Divisoria and Baclaran customers/patrons,” said Elamparo in his year-end
report, which was submitted to the SEC on February 26, 2013.
“It will
pursue to increase its target sales through aggressive marketing programs and
efficient operations and further maximize its leasable areas/spaces,” he
pointed out.
In its motion
for extension, the group said “the SEC en banc has erred in its appreciation of
the facts, and has departed from applicable laws and jurisprudential
doctrines.”
The SEC
supposedly ignored Uniwide’s request for a review of the rehabilitation ruling
for two years, prompting the petitioners to file two motions on December 6,
2012, and January 3, 2013, to withdraw their appeal and manifest their desire
to negotiate directly with its last two remaining major creditors, namely, PNB
and Allied Bank.
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