Badges of fraud

The Uniwide Group of businessman Jimmy Gow, still fighting a questionable decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the liquidation of the company, is facing another tough battle, this time against a former business partner.

Jacinto Ng Sr. of Rebisco Corp., a major supplier of Uniwide’s biscuits stocks and head of the Manila Bay Development Corp., filed a case against Gow and Uniwide with the RTC of Paranaque. This despite Gow’s claim that Ng was entirely at fault for failing to fulfill the terms of the lease agreement that he had peddled to convince his then-friend to build the Uniwide Coastal Mall on his 40-hectare MBDC reclamation property in Parañaque City.

Around 500 small investors of Uniwide have filed a derivative suit for damages  against MBDC last July 31 before Branch 258 of RTC ParaËœaque to compel MBDC to return Uniwide’s rentals totaling P381 million as of 2005 and pay P100 million in damages.

Led by Brenelie Rualo, these small stockholders also asked the RTC to compel MBDC to extend the lease contract on the Coastal Mall project by another 20 years to allow them to recover their investments amounting to P2.1 billion.

In their complaint, the group said the Coastal Mall contract that MBDC had imposed on Uniwide was marked by  â€œbadges of fraud.”

First is the sudden decision by MBDC to reduce the area leased to Uniwide from 20 hectares to 10 hectares, which, along with the government’s construction of what would become the Macapagal Boulevard,  left Gow with no choice but to return some P400 million to investor-friends who wanted to lease space in the Coastal Mall project.

Second is  MBDC’s move to keep Uniwide in the dark on this Macapagal Blvd. project that cut through the proposed Coastal Mall site.

Third is the alleged conspiracy between MBDC and two top-ranking officers of Uniwide, chief financial officer Jimmy Cabangis and controller-treasurer Cora Rey, in stuffing the 20-year lease contract with onerous provisions.

Connecting at sea

July 17, 2013 marked an unprecedented milestone for Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Inc. (PTC) and the Philippine maritime industry as Smart Communications, Inc. officially launched the Marino Phonepal telecommunication service aboard the M/V Bonita, a bulk carrier of Norwegian shipping giant Ugland Marine Management (UMM).  

Arriving from Hong Kong at the Manila Harbour Centre, the 32,379 gross tonnage vessel served as Smart’s very first platform in launching the latest satellite-based maritime voice call service.  Guests were welcomed aboard the M/V Bonita by the 23 Filipino crew led by Capt. Cesar Contreras, C/O  Ernesto  Lo, 2nd Officer Abner Mahinay, 3rd Officer  Ricardo  Evangelista  Jr., C/E Camilo Conde , 2nd Engr. Ericson Samson, 3rd Engr. Petronilo Bagos, and 4th Engr. Amado Simonio.

The Marino Phonepal was strategically installed in the bridge area of the Bonita with PTC VP for Crewing Operations, Capt. Ronald Enrile being given the privilege to make the first successful international call to Singapore.  

Through Marino Phonepal, Filipino seafarers can now enjoy clear and uninterrupted communication to the Philippines while sailing the high seas of Australia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region at a low flat rate of P18/minute.

Utilizing a specialized plug-and-play SF2500 SIM-less terminal, seafarers need only to avail of a Marino Phonepal Call Card to use the service and make outgoing voice calls to their families back in the Philippines.

Unlike conventional, land-based communication platforms, maritime communications demand greater reliability, accuracy and durability because of its critical role in safeguarding the vessel and its crew amidst the harsh conditions at sea. Thus, ship owners as well as the vessel’s operations crew require only the most reliable and cost-effective communications technology that are designed to be simple to use, easy to maintain and will function seamlessly anytime, anywhere.

According to PTC CEO Gerardo Borromeo, technology would enable the Philippines to be at the forefront of innovation in the global shipping industry, and in the same way, this partnership with Smart would help PTC attract the best and the brightest Filipino global maritime professionals.

This, he added,  directly contributes to their  mission to have at least one Filipino seafarer on every vessel sailing in every sea, moving the world.

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