Ex-MCIAA general manager, 15 others indicted on allegations of violating anti-dummy law

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted a former general manager of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) and officials of the GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) for allegedly violating the Anti-Dummy Law.

The indictment stemmed from a complaint filed last year by the National Bureau of Investigation, which alleged that foreigners are operating the airport.

Set to face charges in court are foreign nationals Andrew Acquaah-Harrison, Ravi Bhatnagar, Ravishankar Saravu, Michael Lenane, Sudarshan Madhav Doddathota, Kumar Gaurav, Magesh Nambiar, and Rajesh Madan.

The DOJ said these foreigners acted as executive officers, managers, and employees of GMCAC in the guise of being advisors, experts, and technical personnel through the help of the GMCAC board directors and officers.

The GMCAC officers and board directors are Manuel Louie Ferrer, Edgar Saavedra, Oliver Tan, and Jez Dela Cruz, as well as GMR Group chairman Srinivas Bommidala, P. Sripathy, and Vivek Singhal. The DOJ also found basis to file criminal charges against them.

According to the panel of prosecutors, the right to operate the airport must only be reserved for Filipino citizens because the GMCAC is a “public utility corporation.”

Dicdican, meanwhile, was indicted “for knowingly assisting, aiding, and abetting the commission of a violation of the Anti-Dummy Law,” the DOJ said.

Dicdican was suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for six months in December 2020 over the matter. A new general manager then took over in July. — VBL, GMA News