Executives behind bars

Take a look at the list of prominent business personalities that have been charged before the Pasig Regional Trial Court for large-scale estafe following a case filed by power consumer group National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (NASECORE) against the directors and executives of the Manila Electric Co. (MERALCO). The case stemmed from the alleged conversion of the interest earned by the meter and bill deposits of MERALCO customers in the amount of Php889-million as part of the corporate income of the distribution utility.

• Felipe Alfonso, vice-chairman of MERALCO and executive director of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Center for Corporate Social Responsibility;
• Arthur Defensor, Jr., a board member of the province of Iloilo;
• Gregory Domingo, former undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and current chairman of Outsource2Philippines (O2P);
• Octavio Espiritu, former president and chief executive officer of Far East Bank & Trust Co. and currently an independent director of the Bank of Philippine Island (BPI);
• Jesus Francisco, president and chief operating officer of MERALCO and a director of other MERALCO subsidiaries, and a board member of the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC);
• Manuel Lopez, chairman and chief executive officer of MERALCO and a director of other Lopez-led firms;
• Christian Monsod, former chairman of the Commission on Election (COMELEC);
• Federico Puno, president of Marubeni Philippines Corporation and former president of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR);
• Washington Sycip, founder of SGV & Co. and AIM, a director of various major corporations in Asia, and considered as the "Dean of Philippine Banking";
• Emilio Vicens, a Venezuelan national and vice-president for business development of AEI;
• Cesar Virata, former Philippine prime minister and a current vice-chairman of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC); and
• Francisco Viray, former secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) and current president of Trans-Asia Power Generation Corporation.

The crime for which they are charged is non-bailable. Hence, they will surely be in jail once the release of warrants of arrest against them materialized. In this regard, the prognosis is that expect a management overhaul in the MERALCO when the Winston Garcia-led group assume full control of the special board meeting that will be called soon after the arrest of the said directors as seats of the Lopez-led allies will be empty.