Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Former Nextel head lashes back at detractors

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 01:17:56 -0500

Tuesday, January 22, 2002

Former Nextel head lashes back at detractors
By Honey Madrilejos

FORMER Nextel Communications Phils. Inc. president Antonio Urera said yesterday
he is willing to present himself as a witness before the National
Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to prove that the trunk radio operator
violated the 40-percent constitutional limit on foreign ownership.

In an interview with reporters, Urera said he was aware of the alleged violation
while he was still at the helm of the company.

“I was aware of that and I did not agree to what they were doing.  What they did
was wrong,” Urera lamented.

Lawyer Allan Paguia had earlier asked the Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC) and the NTC to probe Nextel.  In a separate interview,
Paguia said he will present Urera as a witness to the case brought before the
NTC.

“Mr. Urera is more than willing to be my witness,” Paguia said.

Contrary to the claims of Nextel officials that Paguia is defending Urera in all the
cases filed by the company against the latter, Urera said he attended the hearing
last Friday at the NTC because he was interested in the case considering that he
used to run the company.

“I attended the hearing because I am interested in what they have to say.  I
continued to raise within the company certain issues about this thing when I was
still the president of Nextel.  But I do not know if that (violation) was the reason
why they kicked me out of the company,” Urera said.

Nextel had filed in August last year a civil case before the Pasig Regional Trial
Court against Urera after the latter refused to return company properties worth
millions following his resignation on April 18, 2001.

The properties include a 1998 Emerald black Mercedes-Benz worth P3.45 million
and two laptop computers worth P350,000.

Urera filed a $5-million counterclaim before the same court for his unpaid
separation pay.  But he refused to accept that he resigned from the company.  He
claimed that as of today he is still employed at Nextel.

“As far as I am concerned, I am officially with Nextel.  I am fighting it out with the
court on the validity of their so-called removal from Nextel.  I can attest to the
violation they had committed because I was aware of it,” Urera said.

Nextel had stressed that the no less than Department of Justice and the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had cleared Nextel of the alleged
constitutional violation.

A document provided by Paguia showed though that on July 28, 2000, Nextel
International Inc. (NII) increased its direct and indirect ownership in its Philippine
operating company from about 38 percent to about 51 percent by purchasing
some of the minority owner’s equity for about $9.8 million.

On Jan. 18, 2001, NII again increased its direct and indirect ownership in Nextel to
about 59 percent by purchasing additional minority owner’s equity for about $3.7
million.

Paguia alleged that Gamboa Holdings and Emerald Investments are mere conduits
of NII to hide the extent of foreign ownership

 http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2002/jan/22/business/20020122bus2.html

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