THE Regional Trial Court of Pasig City has dismissed an Application for a Writ of Preliminary Injunction filed by Margaret Bengzon, daughter-in-law of former The Medical City (TMC) CEO Dr. Alfredo Bengzon, as a “nuisance and harassment suit.”
Bengzon had asked the court to stop the directors of Professional Services Inc. (PSI), the beneficial owners of TMC, from making any decisions or changes to PSI Healthcare, the corporate entity that manages the subsidiaries of TMC.
The court dismissal followed a series of other legal setbacks suffered by Dr. Bengzon who, contrary to established rules of corporate governance, had tried to prevent the majority shareholders of TMC from electing a new board when he was CEO.
Likewise, the court recognized the decision of the shareholders, composed of doctors and financial institutions, to elect a new board and appoint a new management team to run TMC.
During cross examination, however, Margaret Bengzon admitted she did not have any acceptable proof of share ownership, be it in the form of a stock certificate or evidence of dividends received.
Shareholders had started to question Dr. Bengzon’s management of the company, including the alleged spending P21.6 billion on expansion in Guam, far in excess of the original budget of P11 billion. Issues of conflict of interest were also raised after Dr. Bengzon put his daughter-in-law solely in charge of setting up and operating the Guam subsidiary.
Corporate records showed Dr. Bengzon owned only 0.11 percent of shares in TMC.
Following the appointment of a new management team led by CEO Dr. Eugenio F. Ramos, TMC focused on improving efficiencies and reducing unnecessary costs, increasing revenue and investing in services to improve patient care.
TMC was also successfully re-accredited by the Joint Commission International, earning a Gold Seal of Approval, in November 2018. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco