News
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2018
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Uniwide sues 5 finance execs
UHI, Uniwide Sales Inc., and Uniwide Sales Realty Resources Corp., acCOMPLAINT for qualified theft and cused UHI Chief Finance and estafa has been filed before Officer Jaime Cabangis, the Department of Justice against Comptroller and Assets Manager Corazon Rey, and finance officers of Uniwide Holdings former Land Bank chairInc. and former executives of the Land man Roberto de Ocampo, former Land Bank presiBank of the Philippines for allegedly dent Margarito Teves and conspiring to defraud the Uniwide loan officer Peter Edmard owner almost P 4 billion worth of prime Tamayo of committing the crime of qualified theft real properties and shares of stocks and estafa through alleged through deceit and fraudulent means. deceit, rigged and manipulated “dacion en pago” of In a 13-page complaint Prosecutor’s Office, Jimmy real properties and UHI filed with the Quezon City Gow, board chairman of the shares of stock to Land
By Rey E. Requejo
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Bank, “without the knowledge and prior approval” of the UHI’s board of directors and its investors. Also named respondents were lawyer Monico Jacob, who chaired the Interim Receivership Committee, and members Cornelio Peralta and Arthur Aguilar. The IRC was created by the Securities and Exchange Commission arising from the petition for rehabilitation invalidly filed by Cabangis. “As a consequence of the crime perpetrated by respondents and Land
Bank through its officials [De Ocampo, Teves, and Tamayo], we suffered damages,” Gow said, in seeking for the prosecution of the respondents for qualified theft and estafa charges. The UHI owner estimated the financial damages he suffered to about P3.843 billion, representing P1.5 billion worth of mortgaged real properties sold by means of dacion en pago; P143,840,193, representing the 20 percent addition to the original P500-million loan of Uniwide Sales Warehouse Club Inc., which
was fraudulent transferred and converted as UHI loan; P1.8 billion worth of shares of stock, which Land Bank should return to UHI; and P400 million representing the current appraised value of Gow’s Wack-Wack property “which was mortgaged illegally and under deception.” Go recalled that sometime in 1993, he allowed Cabangis, who introduced thimself as partner of Sycip Gores Velayo, to join in the UHI Group of Companies after the latter promised to make UHI a pub-
licly-listed corporation and generate capital investment of P4 billion. In 1996, UHI became publicly listed corporation with capital investments of P4 billion generated from 27,000 investors. Cabangis organized the UHI, made himself the chief finance officer with annual salary of P5 million, got Rey, also from SGV, as comptroller and assets manager, named Cezar Virata and Bernardo Villegas as board of directors and retained prominent law firms.
House okays funding for ‘Timbangan’ centers By Maricel V. Cruz
A PANEL in the House of Representatives has approved the budgetary provision of a measure that promotes honesty in the marketplace, particularly with the use of weighing devices. Given the nod of House of Representatives committee on appropriations, chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, was the still unnumbered substitute to House Bill (HB) 2957, or “An Act for the establishment of Timbangan ng Bayan Center in all markets nationwide, amending for the purpose, Chapter II of Republic Act No. 7394, otherwise known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines.” “This measure seeks to further improve the protection of consumers by the state. The Consumer Act has been in effect for almost 26 years now, so some of its provisions need to be attuned to the times,” Nograles said. HB No.2957 was principally authored by former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. During a congressional deliberation on the measure, the Nograles panel recommended that the measure’s appropriations provision (Section 6) indicate that
“the amount necessary to carry out the provisions of Section 1... shall be charged against the internal revenue allotment and other funds of the local government unit concerned.” Section 1 of the measure effectively inserts a new provision under Article 62 of Chapter II of RA No. 7394. The provision calls for the establishment of Timbangan ng Bayan Centers in all markets in the country “where instruments for determining weights and measures shall be open for and accessible to anyone who wants to verify the accuracy of the quantity and measurement of the products they purchased.” “Once in place, Timbangan ng Bayan Centers will give Filipino homemakers and other individuals the assurance that they will not be duped by shrewd vendors with their under-calibrated weighing scales. It’s also a good way to pinpoint who the cheaters are in the marketplace,” Nograles said. “We’re putting provincial, city, and municipal governments in charge of this undertaking through their IRA,” the panel chairman noted. The IRA is the share that LGUs receive from taxes collected by the national government.
Binay quizzes NFA over rice buffer stock THE National Food Authority must explain the alleged shortage of its rice supply, Senator Nancy Binay said, pointing out that the agency is required to keep a 15-day buffer stock. The senator said that while it is true that rice supply is available in the market, the NFA appears to be in short supply of the NFA rice to unload in the market. Consumers are forced to buy the more expensive commercial rice, Binay said, citing a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority that prices of regular and wellmilled rice have increased by P1 to P3 per kilo in six regional centers, including Kidapawan City, Naga City and the National Capital Region. NFA should ensure that the
staple grain is available and at affordable prices, Binay said in a press statement. NFA sells rice between P27 and P32 per kilo, while commercial rice varieties are sold from P36 to P41. Binay also asked the Council why it chose to defer the importation of 250,000 metric tons of rice despite NFA’s admission that its current buffer stock is good for only three days. “The Council should not rely on mere projections and instead be flexible and sensitive to the needs on the ground,” she said. Binay urged the NFA to maintain a 15-day buffer stock at any given time and 30-day buffer stock during lean season, which is usually from July to September.
Federalism to solve BBL problems, says lawmaker By Maricel V Cruz AN ADMINISTRATION lawmaker on Sunday backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for Congress to pass the propsed Charter change to effect federalism ahead of the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, to avoid constitutional challenge on the latter. “We support the President’s call to have a federal form of government first before approving the BBL,” Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers said. As proposed, Barbers said the Bangsamoro entity “has a semblance of a federal state.” The proposed BBL had a hard time passing during the 16th Congress because of constitutional infirmities.
But Barbers said these infirmities could be resolved if lawmakers get rid of the current unitary system of government in favor of a federal system where the country will be divided into federal states. “The federalism issue should be handled first before the BBL. It is a legitimate and the fastest solution to the constitutional problems being raised against the BBL,” said Barbers, chairperson of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs. The federalism model being pushed by the House of Representatives’ committee on constitutional amendments identifies five federal states—one of which is the Bangsamoro. The others are Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and Metro Manila.
CARRIEDO CUP. Former President Fidel V. Ramos hoists a token gift for taking part in the Carriedo Cup golf tournament during a celebration hosted by the Maynilad Water to highlight the 140th anniversary of the water agency this month. Witnessing the event are MWSS Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco (right), Maynilad and MAP president Ramoncito Fernandez, and Maynilad AVP Anette de Ocampo who served as tournament director.
MWSS rolls out water eco-tourism hub master plan THE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System has unveiled the Water Eco-Tourism Hub Master Plan at the MWSS Lobby to kick-start its 140th founding celebration this month with world- class urban planner Architect Felino “Jun” Palafox tasked to transform the 79-hectares Old Balara Picnic Grove into a water eco-tourism hub and to make it environmentally compliant.
“This grand plan also jibes with the “build, build, build” program of President Rodrigo Duterte as well as our vision to build a water and environment institute to better serve the present and future generations,” said MWSS Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco. “Having proven that we have collectively experienced successful Water Public Private Partnership in the
last 20 years through a workable concession agreement, I am confident that this Palafox Master Plan will become a reality under the Duterte administration.” Velasco also thanked MWSS concessionaires—Manila Water and Maynilad Water Services—for their contributions to the project. Manila Water president and CEO Ferdinand M. Dela Cruz added, “Water and sanitation services re-
quires a master plan, it requires a sustainable planning and really a long-term view. We extend what we can do through MWSS to promote good water and sanitation.” For his part, Maynilad president and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez, said, “This serves as a showcase for the local water industry and is definitely a good legacy of Admin Velasco together with Maynilad, Manila Water and MWSS.”