OSG ‘relentlessly’ pursuing Naia 3

THIS REFERS to the news article titled “Frustrated lawyer drops Naia 3 case” (Inquirer, 4/19/11) regarding lawyer Jose Bernas’ unfortunate withdrawal of the private complaint he filed against Piatco. Bernas said his decision was prompted by the government lawyers’ apparent lack of zeal in pursuing the case.
It must be known that contrary to the statement of Bernas, the lawyers of the government continue to pursue the Naia 3 case relentlessly.

A testament to the progressive, and stern resolve of the government to uphold the Anti-Dummy Law in the case at hand is the recent Supreme Court resolution that dismissed a petition for certiorari filed by Lilia Cheng, director of the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco).

The resolution of the expropriation cases against Piatco, and the arbitration of the same before international courts have been the utmost priority of the Office of the Solicitor General. In fact, the OSG is presently preparing to defend the Philippine government in the case filed by Fraport AG (Fraport) before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid).

We hope that this will shed light on the issue, and reassure the public of our commitment to work toward the swift resolution of the aforementioned cases.

—FR. HILARION B. BUBAN,
Chief of Staff,
Office of the Solicitor General