THE Supreme Court (SC) has granted the appeal of businessman Roberto V. Ongpin to delist an intra-corporate dispute case involving Philex Mining Corp. from the court’s records.
The case stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Mario E. Ongkiko, a shareholder of Philex, who alleged that Mr. Ongpin as director and vice-chairman of Philex violated SEC rules when he supposedly used insider information to make short-swing profits.
In a 12-page resolution on Dec.7 and made public on Jan. 26, the SC First Division said the Court of Appeals (CA) did not have jurisdiction over the case since the respondents, shareholders of Philex, did not pay filing fees worth P8.25 million but only paid P4,325 of the docket fees.
“While we believe in the cause of stockholder activism championed by respondents, we cannot allow what the law does not,” the high tribunal said.
Mr. Ongpin had filed a motion to expunge before the CA to erase the lawsuit, which was pending before a Pasig City trial court, from court records.
The appellate court said Mr. Ongpin failed to prove that the Pasig trial court abused its discretion when it rejected the motion to erase the case.
The Pasig trial court said a motion to expunge, which seeks to strike out a case from court records, does not apply to intra-corporate controversies.
In 2009, Mr. Ongpin bought Philex shares worth P50 million from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) at P12.75 per share, registered in the name Goldenmedia Corp.
In less than six months, a share purchase agreement worth P452.08 million was executed between Mr. Ongpin, Goldenmedia, Boerstar Corp., Elkhound Resources, Inc., Walter Brown, DBP and the share buyer Two Rivers Pacific Holdings Corp. for a 9.24% stake in Philex.
Mr. Ongkiko argued that Mr. Ongpin profited from the deal that stemmed from information not available to the general public.
The High Court said it can dismiss a case when the ground invoked by the petitioners is lack of jurisdiction over a subject matter, which Mr. Ongpin proposed in his appeal.
“Respondents have not settled the deficiency in filing fees until today, nor do they show a willingness to do so,” said the Supreme Court. — John Victor D. Ordoñez
