Senator Roxas to gov't: Move fast to attach Legacy assets

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas last Friday asked three government agencies to move fast to attach the assets of businessman Celso de los Angeles and his failed Legacy Group of Companies to protect planholders and investors from losing their investment.

Roxas made the call after transmitting to the three government agencies copies of documentary and testimonial evidence gathered by the Senate in its investigation into the Legacy mess triggered by an inquiry into the financial problems of the pre-need industry.

Senator Mar Roxas comforts a crying Bernadette Raymundo who told Roxas that she lost her life's savings because of the collapse of the Rural Bank of Subangdaku, one of the 13 Legacy banks that collapsed because of mismanagement by controversial businessman Celso de los Angeles. Roxas met Raymundo at the assembly hall of Siliman University in Dumaguete City yesterday during a forum with victims of the Legacy collapse organized by the Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) Coalition.

He said the documents from the Senate hearing transmitted to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice (DoJ) are more than enough to cause the attachment of De los Angeles' assets, many of which are part of the trust fund of the two collapsed Legacy pre-need companies and the assets of the 13 Legacy banks that declared bankruptcy late last year.

He said the evidence also prove allegations that De los Angeles engaged in illegal business transactions and diverted Legacy funds for his personal use.

"Considering the seriousness of these allegations, we trust that your office will conduct an in-depth investigation on the matter and expeditiously act to cause the attachment of all assets that may have been acquired using the trust fund and deposit accounts of Legacy policy holders and depositors," he said in separate letters sent to PDIC president Jose Nograles, SEC chairperson Fe Barin and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.

Documents transmitted to the PDIC includes copies of the Transcript of proceedings of the four committee public hearings (February 2, February 10, March 2 and March 9) and the sworn affidavits of former Legacy chief executive officer Carolina Hinola, chief finance officer Namnama Pasetes-Santos, Paul Montenegro, Myrna Axalan and Jeannette Ortiz.

The SEC and the DoJ, on the other hand, were given copies of the Transcript of proceedings of the 4th public hearing last March 9 and sworn affidavits of Hinola and Santos.

The Ilonggo senator said the affidavits of Hinola and Santos are relevant to the investigations being conducted by the three offices, particularly on De los Angeles' alleged misuse and misappropriation of the trust funds and bank deposit accounts of the Legacy group of companies.

Also, the Senate committee wrote House Speaker Prospero Nograles and furnished his office certified true copies of the sworn affidavit of Santos and vouchers and checks showing the disbursement of a total of P1.8 million to Paranaque Rep. Eduardo Zialcita drawn from Legacy' pre-need trust fund.

Santos had testified that Legacy Consolidated Plans Inc. (LCPI) paid Zialcita a consultancy fee of P100,000 monthly on the instructions of De los Angeles. The checks, she claimed, were received by the congressman's former secretary identified as one Leila Omana.

Zialcita is a second cousin of SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez, who has been accused of "protecting" Legacy's interests within the SEC. Witnesses have alleged the Legacy group paid for a P5 million house and lot in Paranaque that Martinez gave his son.

"In observance of the inter-parliamentary courtesy customarily practiced by members of both houses of Congress, I transmit herewith (these documents) for your reference and in support of whatever action you may deem appropriate under the circumstances," Roxas said.

He added members of the House can examine and verify the original vouchers and checks, which are in the custody and safekeeping of the Senate Blue Ribbon Oversight Office Management (BROOM).

Sunday, March 15, 2009 | posted in carol hinola, celso de los angeles, ed zialcita, fe barin, jose nograles, legacy group of companies, mar roxas, namnama pasete-santos, prospero nograles, raul gonzalez | 0 comments [ More ]

Roxas lauds House action on Income Tax break bill

Senator Mar Roxas commended the House of Representatives for rectifying its quorum woes in order to pass a bill giving tax relief to low-wage earners, and said he would push for this to be taken up by the Senate at the soonest possible time.

"We welcome the approval of the House version. I am confident that we will be able to reconcile our versions of the measure. Both the Senate and the House have the same thing in mind—to provide immediate relief for our workers," he said.

"Kahit hindi ito nakaabot sa Labor Day, nananatili itong prayoridad para bigyang ginhawa ang ating mga manggagawa, sa panahong napakataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin," he stressed.

Roxas filed Senate Bill No. 103 in June last year to exempt minimum wage earners from income taxes. Policymakers agreed to prioritize such measure in the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) last April 22, and was targeted to be passed by May 1, Labor Day. He noted that the Constitution requires that all tax measures must emanate from the House.

"This measure has been promised to workers in the past Labor Day celebrations. Now that this tax relief is forthcoming, our workers can now focus on the work of the regional wage boards and the grant of non-wage benefits," he added.

The Liberal Party President noted that while both bills sought to increase take-home pay for low wage earners, the House had adopted a different methodology by increasing personal exemptions for employees in the private sector, while Roxas' bill removes the income tax altogether for minimum wagers.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 | posted in income tax break, mar roxas, minimum wage, pgma, philippines, president, prospero nograles | 0 comments [ More ]

Roxas: Now the real work begins

Given the assured passage of the Quality Affordable Medicines Act on or before Labor Day, Senator Mar Roxas, principal sponsor and author of the bill, challenged the executive branch to come up with a concrete action plan for its effective implementation.

“I thank House Speaker Prospero Nograles and the House panel headed by Palawan Rep. Tony Alvarez for agreeing to deal with the issue of ‘generics-only’ prescriptions in a separate bill. The Quality Affordable Medicines bill can now become a law, with no hurdles left to its passage,” said Roxas, co-chair of the bicameral panel for the bill.

“With our decade-long struggle to turn this into law over, we can now focus our energies on a concrete national action plan to bring medicine prices down,” he added.

Roxas, during his time as Trade Secretary in 2000, was a main proponent for amendments to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which allowed for concessions to developing countries such as the easing of patent restrictions, a major aspect of the Quality Affordable Medicines bill. The measure had already been passed by the Senate in the 13th Congress, but a quorum problem in the House prevented its enactment then.

The senator proposed a P1-Billion Special Fund to purchase quality drugs from India as a way to jumpstart the implementation of the forthcoming landmark law. He cited the growing number of Filipinos suffering from hypertension and diabetes as examples of specific ailments that require expensive daily maintenance medicines.

“Parallel importation of life-saving medicines would benefit millions of ailing Filipinos. This is one way of giving back to the people what the government collects by way of taxes,” he said.

Roxas pushed for amendments to the Intellectual Property Code which seek to allow the parallel importation of locally patented drugs and to allow generic manufacturers to test, register, produce patented drugs prior to patent expiry, among others.

“With the present condition of high prices, poor families are forced to choose between medicines and food. We need to push for the effective implementation of this law to enable them to save money and maintain good health by bringing in more affordable medicines,” Roxas said.

The Liberal Party President urged the Department of Health to lay the groundwork for an Affordable Medicines Summit participated by local and national government officials, the business sector and other stakeholders.

“It is our duty as lawmakers to oversee the executive’s actions, to ensure that our new law is taken full advantage of and that its noble intentions are actually felt by the public,” Roxas said.

The Quality Affordable Medicines Act will also strengthen the Bureau of Food and Drugs to serve as a counterfoil to attempts to bring in fake or substandard medicines by allowing BFAD to retain its operating income from fees and other charges so it could upgrade its facilities and beef up its human resources.

The measure also allows for the imposition of price regulation of medicines, as an option in case the free market by itself is unable to bring down prices. This would be implemented by the President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health. An initial P25-million appropriation is also set for such implementation.

Thursday, April 24, 2008 | posted in bfad, cheaper medicines bill, doh, mar roxas, pgma, philippines, president, prospero nograles, tony alvarez | 0 comments [ More ]

LP voted against JDV, what's the problem?

Before I start my discussion on this matter, may I congratulate Ma'am Janette Toral and Max Limpag for the successful Cebu Bloggers Meet-Up yesterday that was held at I-Browse Café. It really gave me an insight on how to improve this blog and make it more equipped for the upcoming 2010 elections.

Anyways, back to our topic. Should there be a fuss if the Liberal Party (LP) of Senator Mar Roxas voted against the former House Speaker Jose de Venecia? I think it's just an over reaction. After all, the LP was deprived from having a representative in the Commission on Appointments, House committee chairmanships and its priority bills were not given a chance thus further isolating the party.

It doesn't mean that because the LP voted to remove de Venecia from the Speakership, it would automatically equal to LP's alignment to Gloria Arroyo's forces. Here's the formula: LP vote vs. JDV != PGMA

Let's give Speaker Prospero Nograles a chance, and I know that he will be careful on what he does. He would really feel bad if accusations like "he was anointed by Gloria Arroyo to be puppy in the House" would turn out to be true.

Friday, February 8, 2008 | posted in blog, jose de venecia, mar roxas, pgma, philippines, prospero nograles | 1 comments [ More ]

Roxas urges new Speaker: Heal the House

Senator Mar Roxas urged newly-installed House Speaker Prospero Nograles to seize the moment and shake off embittered partisanship to consolidate the House not behind any interest or faction, but behind the people and their urgent needs. “Let us now stop the conflict of factions and families and get straight to the business of the people without any more bickering,” he said.

“I call on the new House Speaker to start healing the wounds of the House so Congress could now speed up on the people’s legislation,” he said.

He cited the Quality Affordable Medicines bill, which has already been approved by the Senate and House, and set for discussions next week by the Bicameral Conference Committee. Roxas earlier said that 80%-90% of the provisions of the Senate and House versions could easily be reconciled.

Roxas, Liberal Party President, stressed that politicians are in power not for their sake but because the people put them there to look after the people’s interests.

“Itong kontes na ito, sa pagitan lamang ito ng mga pulitiko, at hindi naman talaga kasali si Juan dela Cruz dito. Tulad ng mga miting-miting na naganap bago itong paghalal ng bagong Speaker—mga golf sessions man o ‘gulp sessions,’—hindi naman kasali si Juan dela Cruz,” he said.

“At the end of the day, regardless of who bangs the gavel in Batasan, the people want to see a Congress that is working for their interests and not the interests of a few,” he stressed.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008 | posted in cheaper medicines bill, mar roxas, pgma, philippines, president, prospero nograles | 0 comments [ More ]