2 top SM execs want to be excluded in complaint

Two top executives of SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI) are asking the City Prosecutor’s Office to deny the motion of the Cebu City Government to include them as respondents to the complaint for other deceits under Article 318 of the Revised Penal Code.

In their opposition received by the City Legal Office yesterday, lawyers of Henry Sy Jr., SMPHI Prime Holdings chairman of the Board, and Hans Sy, executive director, said the two were earlier cleared from inclusion in the complaint after the City Prosecutor’s Office found no probable cause.

The City, through Mayor Tomas Osmeña, filed a motion for partial reconsideration and argued that the two respondents should be included in the complaint.

Lawyers of the respondents said that the pronouncement of the mayor was only based on a general allegation of conspiracy.

They said it is just a speculation with no evidence to back it up.

“As Mayor Osmeña impliedly admits, he has no direct evidence of such facts. He is relying on all circumstantial evidence, which, as pointed out, are all speculations,” a portion of the opposition reads.

On the allegation that the two respondents are wellversed in the real property tax requirements and knowledgeable of undervaluation, the lawyers of the respondents said the conclusion of the mayor is not supported by evidence.

In November last year, Osmeña lodged criminal charges against four SMPHI executives for allegedly misrepresenting the size of SM Seaside City Cebu to reduce its tax obligations to the City Government amounting to about P23 million.

However, in its March 15 resolution, the City Prosecutor’s Office only found enough basis to charge Imelda Lim, SMPHI senior tax manager, with the violation after the mall allegedly understated the size of its new mall located at the South Road Properties.

Lawyers of the respondents said that the pronouncement of the mayor was only based on a general allegation of conspiracy.