VIEW SWORN STATEMENTS OF LOCKIE AND SILVINO

VIEW CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS LEADING TO THE CASE

IS it finally all's well that ends well for the long-running Lockie-Silvino show?

Almost exactly a year after the word war erupted between Microsoft Philippines managing director Darren Lockie and Lotus Software Philippines Inc. managing director Victor Silvino, the controversy that escalated into a criminal case apparently has been settled amicably.

Microsoft Philippines, however, may have lost something else. The company may no longer have Lockie around as managing director. Reliable sources said the local subsidiary of the world's biggest software company is now looking for a new country manager and that Lockie is seeking another assignment in other Microsoft offices. Lockie neither confirmed nor denied this in an e-mail interview.

Microsoft and Lotus are bitter rivals in the messaging and collaborative computing market, but apparently the Silvino-Lockie misunderstanding stemmed from personal differences instead of professional competition in the Philippine IT industry.

On April 3, Lockie and Silvino filed through their respective counsels a joint motion to dismiss the pending case at the Makati City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 63. The amicable settlement covers not only Criminal Case No. 278388 filed by Silvino against Lockie for alleged grave threats, but also all charges and counter-charges stemming from that complaint.

When the INQUIRER reached Silvino for comment, he confirmed the out-of-court settlement.

"We've settled our differences outside the court. In effect, we're dropping all the charges," Silvino told the INQUIRER.

In Silvino's affidavit attached to the joint motion to dismiss Criminal Case No. 278388, he stated: "I have forgiven Mr. Darren Lockie for his acts on 16 Nov. 1999 and I no longer wish to pursue my complaint against him for grave threats."

The joint motion to dismiss was submitted to Branch 63 presiding judge Socorro B. Inting for hearing on April 6. As of press time, however, the court had yet to issue a ruling on the joint motion.

Criminal Case No. 278388 was filed after an alleged confrontation between Lockie and Silvino on Nov. 16 near the main entrance of the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati.

In a shouting match, Lockie allegedly uttered grave threats against Silvino and his mother.

Lockie attended the arraignment of the case, but the hearing was postponed to May 16.

The out-of-court settlement covers all charges involving Silvino and Lockie. Apart from the counteraffidavit filed by Lockie, Victor's mother Benigna Silvino had filed a separate complaint with IS No. 9941042 at the Makati City MTC based on its records. This separate complaint, however, is not a pending case as it was still scheduled for preliminary investigation.

Asked about the details of the out-of-court settlement, Silvino said that he could not comment further as this was part of the agreement between the two parties.

"Of course, we can't deny that we have decided to drop our charges, but I cannot say anything more other than that," Silvino said.

When the INQUIRER e-mailed Lockie to get his side, he had only this to say: "We have settled our differences amicably given our strong shared interests in promoting information technology development in the Philippines. I have no further comment on this matter."

Lockie was reportedly in Singapore at the time. He was present during the supposed arraignment on March 30.

Silvino also echoed Lockie's sentiments.

"At the end of the day, it's good for the industry that this gets settled, not only for the local IT industry but also the companies that we represent, more so since they are multinational companies," he said.

The Lockie-Silvino show apparently began with the Lotus R5 launch held March 24 last year. On Holy Tuesday, March 30, 1999, Silvino accused Microsoft of trying to disrupt the R5 launch with its "Dare to Compare!" campaign held near the venue of the R5 launch (incidentally, the Makati Shangri-La) on the same day. This campaign compared Lotus R5 and Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5.

On June 7, 1999, Infotech broke out the story on the investigation that the Bureau of Immigration conducted following a complaint on the status of Lockie's work permit. This was filed April 15, 1999 shortly after the "Dare to Compare!" campaign, with the complainant turning out to be Benigna Silvino.