1.......The Manila Chronicle

2.......Business World

3.......Malaya

4.......Philippine Daily Globe, and

5.......The Manila Times

"‘My administration will prove that government is not avoidly corrupt – and that bureaucracy is not necessarily corrupt. Graft and corruption, we will confront more with action than with words.’

-- PRESIDENT FIDEL V. RAMOS, Inaugural Address, June 30, 1992

"AN URGENT APPEAL TO JUSTICE SECRETARY FRANKLIN DRILON (and) PCGG CHAIRMAN MAGTANGGOL GUNIGUNDO

"Please stop the unauthorized and illegal acts of PCGG officials led by former Chairman DAVID CASTRO and Commissioner MARIO JALANDONI which will allow the attempt of hostile vested interest groups to gain entry into the board of Oriental Petroleum & Minerals Corporation.

"1. The PCGG openly defied Malacañang orders issued by former Executive Secretary Franklin Drilon on the sale of Oriental Petroleum shares.

"In spite of its claims that the disposal of OPMC shares held by Piedras Petroleum was approved by the Office of the President, documented proofs belie the PCGG’s statements. Maniks

"No less than Justice Secretary Franklin Drilon, who was Executive Secretary at the time PCGG Chairman David Castro sought approval for the OPMC-Piedras Petroleum deal, thumbed down Castro’s request. Clearly, the sale of OPMC shares held by Piedras Petroleum to the RCBC-Yuchengco Group for P101 million was unauthorized and illegal.

"2. The PCGG officials involved in the unauthorized and illegal sale of Oriental Petroleum shares committed grave abuse of authority. Their acts defrauded government of better prices for Oriental Petroleum shares which they undervalued and sold to favored buyers – Pacific Basin and RCBC, both identified with the Yuchengco group.

"At the time the Piedras deal was closed the PCGG as evidenced by the minutes of the Board Meeting of Piedras Petroleum on October 31, 1991, with PCGG Commissioner Mario Jalandoni as acting Chairman, the sale of 2.054 billion OPMC Class A shares and 789.45 million B shares, OPMC shares were sold for the give-away price of P0.035/share. This compares with prevailing market price of P0.042 for A shares and P0.049 for the B shares. This means that the RCBC-Yuchengco Group already earned P25 million at the time of the transaction.

"3. The PCGG proceeded without any legal authority to sell Oriental Petroleum shares in total violation of the Public Bidding Law and other government rules and regulations pertaining to the disposal of government assets.

"The PCGG, particularly Commissioner Mario Jalandoni, should be made to account for the PCGG-Piedras-RCBC transaction as it was consummated without transparency, in violation of the Public Bidding Law and without approval from the government.

"4. The PCGG last year illegally used Philcomsat cash dividends to avail itself of an OPMC stock subscription to pay for the subscription rights of JY Campos and Piedras Petroleum.

"Even before the PCGG transacted the questionable Piedras-RCBC deal, it was sued by a Philcomsat stockholder before the Sandiganbayan for diverting P76 million in cash dividends. The anti-graft court ordered the cash dividends deposited in an escrow account in 1989. However, the funds were used by the PCGG to pay for subscription rights for OPMC shares.

"This case is related to the Piedras deal because the additional OPMC shares were part of those sold to the RCBC-Yuchengco Group. Manikanx

"5. The PCGG diverted the proceeds on the authorized sale of Oriental Petroleum shares in violation of the law requiring proceeds of the sale of assets by the PCGG going to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

"In addition to the litany of illegal transactions entered into by the PCGG, the officials of the anti-graft body also violated provisions of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, specifically Section 63, which states that ‘the following shall serve as source of funding or appropriations for the implementation of the said law;

"b) All receipts from assets recovered and sales of ill-gotten wealth recovered through the Presidential Commission on Good Government."’

"The Management & Board of Directors of Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corporation believe that the fruits of oil exploration and development in the country must be shared by the largest possible number of Filipinos. It urgently seeks the intervention of the National Leadership to immediately step in and prevent a large-scale take-over attempt on the Company by selfish and hostile vested interest groups under highly-questionable, unauthorized and illegal circumstances."2 [Annex "A"; Ibid., p. 37.]

"Conclusion

"It has been suggested that this barrage of charges and press releases against the Corporation, and myself, were really intended to create a smokescreen to cover up the sweetheart deal between Commissioner Mario Jalandoni of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) to the prejudice of the Government and/or that it is a part of a dubious proxy solicitation strategy by these persons. It seems to me that there is more to that transaction than meets the eye."3 [Annex "K"; Ibid., p. 163.] Oldmiso

"WHEREFORE, premises considered, the questioned resolutions are hereby SET ASIDE and the complaints DISMISSED. You are hereby directed to immediately withdraw the informations filed in court against respondents Robert Coyiuto, Jr., Jaime L. Ledesma, Ramon Garcia, Amparo Barcelon, Antonio Ozaeta and Carlos Dyhongpo. Report of action taken within ten (10) days from receipt hereof is desired."8 [Ibid., p. 128.]

"Sec. 4. Duty of investigating fiscal. -- If the investigating fiscal finds cause to hold the respondent for trial, he shall prepare the resolution and corresponding information. He shall certify under oath that he, or as shown by the record, an authorized officer, has personally examined the complainant and his witnesses, that there is reasonable ground to believe that a crime has been committed and that the accused is probably guilty thereof, that the accused was informed of the complaint and of the evidence submitted against him and that he was given an opportunity to submit controverting evidence. Otherwise, he shall recommend dismissal of the case.

"In either case, he shall forward the records of the case to the provincial or city fiscal or chief state prosecutor within five (5) days from his resolution. The latter shall take appropriate action thereon within ten (10) days from receipt thereof, immediately informing the parties of said action.

"No complaint or information may be filed or dismissed by an investigating fiscal without the prior written authority or approval of the provincial or city fiscal or chief state prosecutor.

"Where the investigating assistant fiscal recommends the dismissal of the case but his findings are reversed by the provincial or city fiscal or chief state prosecutor on the ground that a probable cause exists, the latter may, by himself, file the corresponding information against the respondent or direct any other assistant fiscal or state prosecutor to do so, without conducting another preliminary investigation.

"If upon petition by a proper party, the Secretary of Justice reverses the resolution of the provincial or city fiscal or chief state prosecutor, he shall direct the fiscal concerned to file the corresponding information without conducting another preliminary investigation or to dismiss or move for dismissal of the complaint or information."

"(1) Supervision and Control. -- Supervision and control shall include authority to act directly whenever a specific function is entrusted by law or regulation to a subordinate; direct the performance of duty; restrain the commission of acts; review, approve, reverse or modify acts and decisions of subordinate officials or units; determine priorities in the execution of plans and programs; and prescribe standards, guidelines, plans and programs. Unless a different meaning is explicitly provided in the specific law governing the relationship of particular agencies, the word ‘control’ shall encompass supervision and control as defined in this paragraph."

"‘Supervision’ and ‘control’ of a department head over his subordinates have been defined in administrative law as follows:

"‘In administrative law, supervision means overseeing or the power or authority of an officer to see that subordinate officers perform their duties. If the latter fail or neglect to fulfill them, the former may take such action or step as prescribed by law to make them perform such duties. Control, on the other hand, means the power of an officer to alter or modify or nullify or set aside what a subordinate officer had done in the performance of his duties and to substitute the judgment of the former for that of the latter.’ (Mondano vs. Silvosa, 97 Phil. 143, 148 (1955)

"Review as an act of supervision and control by the justice secretary over the fiscals and prosecutors finds basis in the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies which holds that mistakes, abuses or negligence committed in the initial steps of an administrative activity or by an administrative agency should be corrected by higher administrative authorities, and not directly by courts. As a rule, only after administrative remedies are exhausted may judicial recourse be allowed."

"The question is whether from the fact that the statements were defamatory, malice can be presumed so that it was incumbent upon petitioner to overcome such presumption. Under Art. 361 of the Revised Penal Code, if the defamatory statement is made against a public official with respect to the discharge of is official duties and functions and the truth of the allegation is shown, the accused will be entitled to an acquittal even though he does not prove that the imputation was published with good motives and for justifiable ends."

"The interest of society and the maintenance of good government demand a full discussion of public affairs. Complete liberty to comment on the conduct of public men is a scalpel in the case of free speech. The sharp incision of its probe relieves the abscesses of officialdom. Men in public life may suffer under a hostile and an unjust accusation; the wound can be assuaged with the balm of a clear conscience. A public officer must not be too thin-skinned with reference to comment upon his official acts. Only thus can the intelligence and dignity of the individual be exalted. Of course, criticism does not authorize defamation. Nevertheless, as the individual is less than the State, so must expected criticism be born for the common good. Rising superior to any official or set of officials, to the Chief Executive, to the Legislature, to the Judiciary -- to any or all the agencies of Government – public opinion should be the constant source of liberty and democracy." Sdaad

"The sole office of the writ of certiorari is the correction of errors of jurisdiction including the commission of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction, and does not include correction of public respondent's evaluation of the evidence and factual findings based thereon."

"Once a complaint or information is filed in court, any disposition of the case such as its dismissal or its continuation rests on the sound discretion of the court. Trial judges are thus required to make their own assessment of whether the secretary of justice committed grave abuse of discretion in granting or denying the appeal, separately and independently of the prosecution's or the secretary's evaluation that such evidence is insufficient or that no probable cause to hold the accused for trial exists."