Skip to content

Tag: Celso de los Angeles

Mga sundalo at pulis, biktima ng Legacy

Hindi lang pala mga retired na guro at mga vendors ang naloko ni Celso de los Angeles at ng kanyang Legacy Group of companies.

Ang educational plan ng 15,000 na anak ng sundalo at pulis pala ay napurnada na rin. At ang malungkot pa nito, marami sa mga sundalo ay walang kamalay-malay na wala na pala ang inaasahan nilang educational plan para sa kanilang mga anak.

Nabulgar lang ito noong isang araw ng mag-anunsyo si Fe Barin ng Securities and Exchange Commission na para raw tulong sa mga nabiktima ni de los Angeles, magpapalabas ang SEC ng pera para pambayad ng tuition ng mga planholders sa darating na pasukan. Sinabi niya ang Scholarship Plans Phils. Inc., ang isa sa mga kumpanya ni de los Angeles.

Samahan ng mga kurakot

May kasabihan tayo na, “Sabihin mo sa akin kung sino mga kaibigan ko, at sasabihin ko kung sino ka.”

At sa English may popular na kasabihan, “Birds of the same feather, flock together.”

Oo nga naman, hindi ka naman magti-tiyaga makipag-dikitan sa isang taong hindi mo type ang pag-uugali. Ikaw ba, gusto mo makipag-ibigan sa magnanakaw, sinungaling at mandaraya?

Why ethics?

martinez zialcita-ed nograles1

The Legacy beneficiaries -From left, Martinez, Zialcita, Nograles

After last Monday’s Senate hearing on the Legacy group of companies debacle which saw millions of pesos of hard-earned savings by thousands of not-so-rich investors vanish into a few people’s pockets, House Speaker Prospero Nograles was asked by reporters if Parañaque Representative Eduardo Zialcita (1st district) would have to face the Ethics Committee.

Nograles replied, “Why ethics? Who is the complainant, who is complaining against him?”

For Nograles to ask “Why ethics” reveals the depth of moral degradation among government officials.

Magpalamig muna

Kung hindi garapal, tanga.

Ito ang impresyon na nakukuha ko ng mga opisyal ng pamahalaan habang pinapanood ko ang hearing tungkol sa Legacy firms ng Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce sa pamumuno ni Sen. Mar Roxas.

Dahil sa recess na, tatlong senador lang ang dumalo ngunit maayos ang hearing. Kasama ni Roxas sa pagtatanong sina Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile at Sen. Rodolfo Biazon.

Maliban kay Celso de los Angeles, may-ari ng Legacy Plans, na hanggang ngayon ay hindi uma-amin sa kanyang kasalanan at nagpupumilit na inosente siya, ang isang natalupan ay si Commissioner Jesus Enrique Martinez ng Secuties and Exchange Commission na siyang dapat magbantay ng mga insurance at pre-need companies na nagtitinda ng mga educational plans.

The sordid mess which is The Legacy

Daxim Lucas of the Philippine Daily Inquirer has come out with a good investigative report on the sordid mess that is The Legacy.

Lucas’ story implicates House Speaker Prospero Nograles. In the second part of the four-part series, the Inquirer said,

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) started investigating what is now known as the Legacy Group rural banks four years ago during the term of then PDIC president Ricardo Tan.

Together with the central bank, PDIC initiated the probe of several Visayas-based rural banks that had aroused suspicion due to the rapid increase in their deposit levels and to reports of “sky-high” returns being promised to depositors or investors.

In the course of the probe, Tan recalled that he was asked out to dinner in 2005 by then House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles, through his “subaltern” George Regalado.

“To my surprise, when I got there [to Edsa Plaza Shangi-La Hotel], we were joined by Celso de los Angeles,” Tan said, referring to the alleged owner of several rural banks that PDIC was investigating for unsafe and unsound banking practices.