MANILA, Philippines - Tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan has agreed to sell his 15 percent stake in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“It’s just business, no emotions,” he said.
“As of today, technically no (we haven’t sold it yet), but we have an agreement to sell,” he told reporters yesterday when asked if he has already sold his stake in the newspaper.
Last month, Inquirer chair Marixi Rufino Prieto announced that her family was in talks to sell its stake in the newspaper to Ramon Ang, head of San Miguel Corp., the country’s largest conglomerate.
Ang confirmed the offer, saying that he is in negotiations to acquire the Prieto family’s 85 percent stake in the newspaper.
Pangilinan said he has already conveyed to the Prieto family that he is agreeable to divesting so Ang could get 100 percent of the newspaper.
“We have no problem with that. So that the takeover will be seamless and we will not get in the way. I guess it will eventually wind up with Ramon Ang. The intention is to give 100 percent to (Ang),” Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan has majority ownership of The Philippine STAR and BusinessWorld.
The Inquirer has been the focus of President Duterte’s ire, claiming that the newspaper has been unfair in its reporting on him and his administration, an allegation that the Inquirer has denied.
This week, he threatened to file charges of economic sabotage against the Inquirer owners for holding onto the Mile Long property in Makati. The property is being leased by a firm owned by the Rufinos, who are connected to the Prietos by marriage.
“If I could prove, which I am studying now, that it’s economic sabotage, then I will file cases against them for economic sabotage. Then I will not allow bail. Makatikim rin sila, ang mga mayaman, once in their life, makapasok sila ng presuhan (These rich people can experience life in jail),” Duterte said during the 113th anniversary of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Quezon City on Wednesday.
He said the Prieto and Rufino families, through Sunvar Reality, have been holding the property for almost 50 years but they have no valid contract.
Duterte has accused the families of swindling the government.