A panel of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors has approved the filing of criminal charges against Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Steve Y. Dicdican and 15 other persons for allegedly violating the Anti-Dummy Law.
In a briefer, the DOJ said the first criminal case will be filed before the regional trial court (RTC) in the 7th Judicial Region in Central Visayas and the other before the RTC in the 8th Judicial Region in Eastern Visayas
The resolution which authorized the filing of the two cases was issued last Oct. 8.
The cases involved the GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) which won the P14.4 billion bid for the 25-year concession for the operation and management of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
Aside from Dicdican, to be charged are GMCAC Board of Directors Srinivas Bomidala, P. Sripathy, Vivek Singhal, Manuel Louie B. Ferrer, Edgar B. Saavedra, Oliver Y. Tan, and Jez Dela Cruz; and GMCAC’s foreign executives and employees Andrew Acquaah-Harrison, Ravi Bhatnagar, Ravishankar Saravu, Michael Lenane, Sudarshan MD, Kumar Gaurav, Magesh Nambiar, and Rajesh Madan.
The complaint against them was filed by the National Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Fraud Division (NBI-AFD) on Nov. 26, 2020.
The first criminal charge sheet stated that the accused GMCAC board of directors, executives and employees “allowed and permitted said foreign nationals who do not possess the qualifications required by the Constitution, or existing laws, to acquire, use, exploit or enjoy a right, franchise, privilege, property or business, the exercise and enjoyment of which are expressly reserved by the Constitution or existing laws to citizens of the Philippines, to intervene in the management, operation, administration or control of the GMCAC, a public utility corporation with the government franchise to operate and maintain the Mactan Cebu International Airport.”
The second charge accused Dicdican of “knowingly assisting, aiding, and abetting the commission of a violation of the Anti-Dummy Law.”
A copy of the resolution was not immediately available.