Three recovered letters of the late Eugenio Lopez Sr to late President Ferdinand Marcos showed that the former offered to sell the Lopez' shares in the Manila Electric Company during the Martial Law years.
The letters according to a report in 2008, were published by the Marcoses in the book "Let the Marcos Truth Prevail" would disprove the rumors that the Marcos administration sequestered Meralco from the Lopez family.
Maki Pulido in GMA's Saksi reported that the first letter dating February 1973 shows Lopez informing Marcos that the family is planning to sell their shares to Meralco foundation, which was made up of Meralco employees and customers.
An excerpt of the said letter read: "... would like to offer sale of our holdings to a cooperative composed of Meralco employees, customers and the general public that could be organized with the assistance of the government."
Lopez Sr. proposed a financial scheme that will move to the foundation more than 100 million pesos worth of debt by the the Lopezes to banks.
An excerpt of the letter read: "I hope Mr President, that you could spare some time from your more pressing duties of State to help us and to give this proposal your sympathetic consideration."
The sale of Meralco's share by the Lopezes pushed through in 1978 at the price of more than P800 million. However, when the Marcoses were driven out of Malacanang, the Lopezes were able to regain their shares without paying for a single cent.
Then defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile expressed disbelief at the turn of events.
"I thought it would've been better if they allowed the Sandiganbayan to decide the issue of whether this (Meralco) is ill-gotten wealth or not," he said.
Then executive secretary Joker Arroyo said that Meralco was in fact owned by Lopezes yet there were no written documents because it was a sequestered asset.
Former president and then senator Benigno Aquino III then said that it was the Supreme Court that ruled in 1991 to give the property back to the Lopezes their shares that were unpaid by the Meralco foundation.
"He (Enrile) is a member of the government and if he feels that my mother did something wrong, then the courts are open," he said.
Aquino's mother, the late Corazon Aquino was the president after Marcos.
The sale of Meralco's share by the Lopezes pushed through in 1978 at the price of more than P800 million. However, when the Marcoses were driven out of Malacanang, the Lopezes were able to regain their shares without paying for a single cent.
Then defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile expressed disbelief at the turn of events.
"I thought it would've been better if they allowed the Sandiganbayan to decide the issue of whether this (Meralco) is ill-gotten wealth or not," he said.
Then executive secretary Joker Arroyo said that Meralco was in fact owned by Lopezes yet there were no written documents because it was a sequestered asset.
Former president and then senator Benigno Aquino III then said that it was the Supreme Court that ruled in 1991 to give the property back to the Lopezes their shares that were unpaid by the Meralco foundation.
"He (Enrile) is a member of the government and if he feels that my mother did something wrong, then the courts are open," he said.
Aquino's mother, the late Corazon Aquino was the president after Marcos.
source: filipinewsph
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