A claimant reported that in a July 21 afternoon visit to the PDIC office, one of so many unproductive follow-ups on the status of his claims, he saw an old woman creating a drama scene: berating and shouting at the staff. She could not understand why PDIC was insisting that her children, who were in Singapore, and her friends, had to personally appear to file claims. The old woman just wanted that she alone (not even her husband who she claimed was sick) could do the filing for all of them.
The informant could not help but notice that the old woman was clutching a bunch of yellow claim slips, leading the former to think that "she might have invited the entire barangay to deposit (sic) in Legacy banks" and doubt "whether those were real persons or just fictitious names as the number of claims filed by her is questionably humongous."
If an ordinary depositor would have cause to think that this woman is really the owner of most of those deposits, then imagine what the PDIC would conclude, especially since their charter specifically provides that in determining the amount due to a depositor, "there shall be added together all deposits in the bank
maintained in the same right and capacity for his benefit either in his own name or in the name of others." It is a foregone conclusion that the old woman will not get her way and that even if she presented all her friends, there is no guarantee that PDIC will pay all the claims. Remember the PDIC lawyer? He said that they have ways and means to go beyond what the personal info sheets indicate for the deposits in order to find out who really is the beneficial owner of questionable accounts.
It is understandable that cases of using dummies and preneed check conversions are delaying the validation of accounts, and therefore holding up (some people say grinding down) the payout of claims. However, it has been almost eight months since the closure of banks and checks are just trickling in. It is almost inconceivable that a claimant is paid for one account, while other accounts (in the same bank) opened at the same time as that paid account is still being verified- same situation for his family members who opened accounts together with the paid claimant. There have been more instances where PDIC has required affidavits of one sort or another, than cases of actual payments made. We personally know of one family who received one check for one account but was asked to submit affidavits for 15 accounts, all in the same bank.
Claimants, even those who have been partially paid, have come to the realization that even though PDIC wants to pay valid depositors, it does not have enough liquid funds. It relies on its monthly assessment collections, which average about P600 million a month, net of taxes, to fund its issued checks. So if its payables for all the 13 Legacy banks is about P10 billion (not including the claims for the closed 13 non-Legacy banks), then expect that payouts will drag out for the next 14 months. But wait! Isn't PDIC mandated by its charter to pay within 6 months from the date of filing? It has to, and therefore expect PDIC to soon issue bonds to raise money or finally force PBCom to sell it shares in order to get back its P7.64 billion investment in the bank. If it cannot raise funds soon enough, then the acronym PDIC will come to mean: Postponing Delaying Insurance Corp.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Divine Retribution
The doctors say that Celso requires a total of 27 radiotherapy sessions, and therefore would need more than 20 days stay in St. Luke's hospital (this hospital has gained a reputation as the sanctuary of fugitives and scammers and should be called St. Locos). Celso is allegedly suffering from diabetes and hypertension, diseases that in combination with a cancer would spell a short short life for the patient. Of course, the question is: Does he really have cancer? I mean cancer of the throat because we already know that he has cancer of morals, aside from having the diseases of greed and lust.
In this age of photoshop, it is very easy to be skeptical of pictures. All those pics of Celso with tubes in his trachea and stomach are met with doubt, notwithstanding the pronouncements of his doctors and the PNP physician. However, we believe that Celso may actually have cancer, considering that we have noted that malefactors and scoundrels have been felled by dread diseases. Recall that the late SEC commissioner Jesus Martinez, accused of graft and protecting Celso, died of cancer. Before that, FG had to be operated for aortic aneurysm. And just recently, PGMA reportedly had to undergo an operation to remove cysts from her breast/s. Malacanang had taken great pains to announce that the tumors were benign, but if we are to be consistent with our theory... What about JocJoc? Well, if our theory of divine retribution will hold true to form, it is just a matter of time.
In this age of photoshop, it is very easy to be skeptical of pictures. All those pics of Celso with tubes in his trachea and stomach are met with doubt, notwithstanding the pronouncements of his doctors and the PNP physician. However, we believe that Celso may actually have cancer, considering that we have noted that malefactors and scoundrels have been felled by dread diseases. Recall that the late SEC commissioner Jesus Martinez, accused of graft and protecting Celso, died of cancer. Before that, FG had to be operated for aortic aneurysm. And just recently, PGMA reportedly had to undergo an operation to remove cysts from her breast/s. Malacanang had taken great pains to announce that the tumors were benign, but if we are to be consistent with our theory... What about JocJoc? Well, if our theory of divine retribution will hold true to form, it is just a matter of time.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Celso is a Negotiable Criminal
Legacy bank-issued CTDs are definitely non-negotiable instruments but Celso's detention in a prison cell is obviously negotiable. All that Celso had to do was get himself admitted in St. Luke's hospital (which would be easy enough), get diagnosed as one with a dread disease, and then undergo medical treatment. And that is what Celso did: if we are to believe news reports, he was a patient in St. Luke's, was undergoing chemotherapy, and then inexplicably obtained medical clearance from his doctor to leave the hospital.
What was so important for Celso to leave the confines of the hospital and go to Sto. Domingo to assume his duties as mayor? Would someone undergoing treatment for cancer risk the long travel from metro manila to Sto. Domingo, a town in Bicol to report to the municipal office? I don't think so... Celso had to go to that town to do something. Hide more documents? Retrieve cash from his safe to pay off his protectors? Well, it must have been important, to risk his health and expose him to arrest. And if we believe again the news reports, Celso collapsed while in town, and had to be returned to St. Luke's.
Pictures show Celso with tubes in his throat and stomach, to underpin his lawyer's claim that though a warrant of arrest has been served to him, he cannot be moved from the hospital. Then a PNP doctor is brought in, and confirms that Celso has to stay put in the hospital to undergo 20 sessions of radiotherapy. Celso must have brought back cash from his house in Sto. Domingo and dispensed them freely, and obviously, successfully. Of course, Celso is not used to giving out cash: he was used to issuing CTDs that were not actually funded. Now that his banks are closed, and his credibility shot, he has to pay cash to get his way.
However, thinking about it, we would gladly see Celso in the hospital getting all the treatments to get him healthy, fit enough to serve his sentence in jail. Death would be too easy for this criminal, but the question is: would our (flawed) criminal justice system dish out the long prison sentence that Celso deserves? Rethinking, I guess death is a surer sentence.
What was so important for Celso to leave the confines of the hospital and go to Sto. Domingo to assume his duties as mayor? Would someone undergoing treatment for cancer risk the long travel from metro manila to Sto. Domingo, a town in Bicol to report to the municipal office? I don't think so... Celso had to go to that town to do something. Hide more documents? Retrieve cash from his safe to pay off his protectors? Well, it must have been important, to risk his health and expose him to arrest. And if we believe again the news reports, Celso collapsed while in town, and had to be returned to St. Luke's.
Pictures show Celso with tubes in his throat and stomach, to underpin his lawyer's claim that though a warrant of arrest has been served to him, he cannot be moved from the hospital. Then a PNP doctor is brought in, and confirms that Celso has to stay put in the hospital to undergo 20 sessions of radiotherapy. Celso must have brought back cash from his house in Sto. Domingo and dispensed them freely, and obviously, successfully. Of course, Celso is not used to giving out cash: he was used to issuing CTDs that were not actually funded. Now that his banks are closed, and his credibility shot, he has to pay cash to get his way.
However, thinking about it, we would gladly see Celso in the hospital getting all the treatments to get him healthy, fit enough to serve his sentence in jail. Death would be too easy for this criminal, but the question is: would our (flawed) criminal justice system dish out the long prison sentence that Celso deserves? Rethinking, I guess death is a surer sentence.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Legacy CTDs are non- negotiable instruments. Period.
We were able to have an hour's chat with a PDIC lawyer and relayed to him a recent case of denial of an acquaintance of a DEADBOL member. The woman, a San Miguel retiree, had deposited in Dynamic bank (the one legacy bank where PDIC had admitted that its verification process had stalled due to the magnitude of missing documents). She had recently received a letter from PDIC stating that one of her claims for a 250k time deposit was denied because it was not listed in the bank's master list. The PDIC denial letter referenced Sec. 4 (g) which provided that "no owner/holder of any negotiable certificate of deposit shall be recognized as a depositor entitled to the rights provided in this Act unless his name is registered as owner/holder thereof in the books of the issuing bank. (As amended by R.A. 9302, 12 August 2004)."
We told him in no uncertain terms that certificates of time deposits issued by the defunct Legacy banks were not negotiable instruments. We provided him the legal references including excerpts from Supreme Court cases and specifically cited a passage by the esteemed Professor of Law, Atty Timoteo Aquino, who in his book stated that ‘The rule has always been that the instrument in order to be considered negotiable must contain the so called “words of negotiability” – i.e., must be payable to “order” or “bearer.” These words serve as an expression of consent that the instrument may be transferred by negotiation. This consent is indispensable since the maker assumes greater risk under a negotiable instrument than under a non-negotiable one.’ Section 1 Act No. 2031, otherwise known as the Negotiable Instruments Law, enumerates the requisites for an instrument to become negotiable and it is clearly spelled out in requirement d) Must be payable to order or to bearer.
In the absence of the actual denial letter, the PDIC lawyer surmised that it may have been a promissory note or another paper, but not a CTD. And that PDIC uses different templates for different cases. However, the deadbol member clarified the matter with the claimant, and affirmed that the denial letter was in a general format: it stated CTD and PDIC (office of Atty Elaine Deticio) and the CTD number was handwritten on the blank portion in the letter.
If true, then PDIC will surely lose any legal case that based its denial on the negotiability of a Legacy bank CTD. However, the good news is that a denied claimant can seek reconsideration with the PDIC claims settlement office, and that PDIC is willing to consider other evidences of funds inflow, provided by the claimant. It is best to remind everybody concerned that in 2000, there was a precedent wherein PDIC accepted and paid out CTD claims of deposits made to the Rural Bank of San Miguel, even those without supporting bank records. If a bank depositor is sure that his or her money was actually deposited in the banks, then he or she is practically in almost-solid ground. We say almost, because this is the Philippines, and one can never be sure.
We told him in no uncertain terms that certificates of time deposits issued by the defunct Legacy banks were not negotiable instruments. We provided him the legal references including excerpts from Supreme Court cases and specifically cited a passage by the esteemed Professor of Law, Atty Timoteo Aquino, who in his book stated that ‘The rule has always been that the instrument in order to be considered negotiable must contain the so called “words of negotiability” – i.e., must be payable to “order” or “bearer.” These words serve as an expression of consent that the instrument may be transferred by negotiation. This consent is indispensable since the maker assumes greater risk under a negotiable instrument than under a non-negotiable one.’ Section 1 Act No. 2031, otherwise known as the Negotiable Instruments Law, enumerates the requisites for an instrument to become negotiable and it is clearly spelled out in requirement d) Must be payable to order or to bearer.
In the absence of the actual denial letter, the PDIC lawyer surmised that it may have been a promissory note or another paper, but not a CTD. And that PDIC uses different templates for different cases. However, the deadbol member clarified the matter with the claimant, and affirmed that the denial letter was in a general format: it stated CTD and PDIC (office of Atty Elaine Deticio) and the CTD number was handwritten on the blank portion in the letter.
If true, then PDIC will surely lose any legal case that based its denial on the negotiability of a Legacy bank CTD. However, the good news is that a denied claimant can seek reconsideration with the PDIC claims settlement office, and that PDIC is willing to consider other evidences of funds inflow, provided by the claimant. It is best to remind everybody concerned that in 2000, there was a precedent wherein PDIC accepted and paid out CTD claims of deposits made to the Rural Bank of San Miguel, even those without supporting bank records. If a bank depositor is sure that his or her money was actually deposited in the banks, then he or she is practically in almost-solid ground. We say almost, because this is the Philippines, and one can never be sure.
Mayor Celso is back.
Have you heard that Celso de los Angeles has reported back for duty as mayor of his small town in Bicol? Yes, just last week, radio broadcasters were matter-of-factly relaying this development in the life of Philippines' counterpart of Madoff. But unlike the latter who in less than six months of his indictment was sentenced to 150 years of life imprisonment, Celso has not even appeared in court for a first hearing. Sure, BSP and PDIC have announced five or six cases of syndicated estafa and other violations against Celso but none have prospered beyond the initial filings.
Even ex-billionaire Stanford has already been indicted, less than a month after his arrest. If one recalls, Stanford disappeared and was in hiding for months before his arrest. Here, all Celso had to do was show up for a few moro-moro senate and congressional hearings, and then admit himself in St. Lukes hospital for a supposed biopsy and subsequent diagnosis of throat cancer. Why hide when one can lie in comfort in a 5-star room. The hospital is known as a refuge of criminals who want to escape the public eye and warrants of arrest, and everybody expected Celso to follow suit, and indeed he did. We talked with a top PDIC lawyer who has made it his cause to prosecute Celso, and he said that he could only say with 70% certainty that Celso actually has cancer. Either way, Celso got his wish and the villain has crept back out of the hole, and is worming himself back to politics. I would not be surprised if he continues on with his plan to run for governor of the province in May, 2010.
Justice in this country practically does not exist. How can it? We heard the admission of Sec. of Justice, Agnes Devenadera,that the DOJ has pending cases of over 11,000. And to become part of that backlog, one has to spend a fortune to file a case. Pre-need victims of Cebu have been unable to file a P190 million syndicated estafa suit against Celso because of the petitioners' failure to post 1.9 million pesos of filing fees, and because of this, Celso's lawyer has asked the court to dismiss the case. What a travesty of justice!
In the Philippines, the wheels of the gods grind exceeding slow, and that is all what happens, nothing after that.
Even ex-billionaire Stanford has already been indicted, less than a month after his arrest. If one recalls, Stanford disappeared and was in hiding for months before his arrest. Here, all Celso had to do was show up for a few moro-moro senate and congressional hearings, and then admit himself in St. Lukes hospital for a supposed biopsy and subsequent diagnosis of throat cancer. Why hide when one can lie in comfort in a 5-star room. The hospital is known as a refuge of criminals who want to escape the public eye and warrants of arrest, and everybody expected Celso to follow suit, and indeed he did. We talked with a top PDIC lawyer who has made it his cause to prosecute Celso, and he said that he could only say with 70% certainty that Celso actually has cancer. Either way, Celso got his wish and the villain has crept back out of the hole, and is worming himself back to politics. I would not be surprised if he continues on with his plan to run for governor of the province in May, 2010.
Justice in this country practically does not exist. How can it? We heard the admission of Sec. of Justice, Agnes Devenadera,that the DOJ has pending cases of over 11,000. And to become part of that backlog, one has to spend a fortune to file a case. Pre-need victims of Cebu have been unable to file a P190 million syndicated estafa suit against Celso because of the petitioners' failure to post 1.9 million pesos of filing fees, and because of this, Celso's lawyer has asked the court to dismiss the case. What a travesty of justice!
In the Philippines, the wheels of the gods grind exceeding slow, and that is all what happens, nothing after that.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Checks or Affidavits in the Mail? That is the Question
Remember Mrs. Lego? She just called yesterday to inform me that hallelujah! she received two mails the other Friday. One mail had a check containing P100,000, representing a time deposit that would have matured last January, 2009, if only it hadn't been overtaken by events.
The other mail was for her daughter's CTD, which contained a letter requiring her personal appearance at the PDIC office, something to do with a Legacy loan that she had incurred. Found out that her CTD was surrendered when she applied for that loan, and when she filed a claim, she had attached the acknowledgment receipt in lieu of the surrendered CTD. PDIC tracked the loan, and have asked the daughter to do an accounting of her monthly payments she had made as loan repayments. Fair enough!
There are some DEADBOL members that are receiving mails, some enclosed with checks but most with affidavits that have to be signed and notarized. A check with PDIC's documentary requirements revealed that affidavits of ownership or co-ownership, as the case may be, are solicited only when signature cards are missing or the signature in the card does not tally with the signature in the claim form. This is a valid requirement if it is not abused. However, we know of one family who received 15 letters, and all contained affidavits: it is statistically impossible that everyone of those accounts had missing signature cards or non-tallying signatures. All members of the family had personally visited the bank, filled up the specimen signature cards, and were old enough that their signatures are not expected to change through the years.
One cannot help but be suspicious that this is just another ploy of PDIC to further delay the payment of valid claims by stringing out the verification process.
The other mail was for her daughter's CTD, which contained a letter requiring her personal appearance at the PDIC office, something to do with a Legacy loan that she had incurred. Found out that her CTD was surrendered when she applied for that loan, and when she filed a claim, she had attached the acknowledgment receipt in lieu of the surrendered CTD. PDIC tracked the loan, and have asked the daughter to do an accounting of her monthly payments she had made as loan repayments. Fair enough!
There are some DEADBOL members that are receiving mails, some enclosed with checks but most with affidavits that have to be signed and notarized. A check with PDIC's documentary requirements revealed that affidavits of ownership or co-ownership, as the case may be, are solicited only when signature cards are missing or the signature in the card does not tally with the signature in the claim form. This is a valid requirement if it is not abused. However, we know of one family who received 15 letters, and all contained affidavits: it is statistically impossible that everyone of those accounts had missing signature cards or non-tallying signatures. All members of the family had personally visited the bank, filled up the specimen signature cards, and were old enough that their signatures are not expected to change through the years.
One cannot help but be suspicious that this is just another ploy of PDIC to further delay the payment of valid claims by stringing out the verification process.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Who is the real villain? BSP or PDIC
The consultant pointed out that BSP has come out with relatively clean hands from the Legacy debacle. He said that PDIC is being vilified by the bank depositors but forget that PDIC, under its 2004 charter, could only examine the banks if directed by the Monetary Board. However a close perusal of charter's Sec. 8, article 8 shows that PDIC could on its own initiate and "conduct examination of banks with prior approval of the Monetary Board. That, to avoid overlapping of efforts, the examination shall maximize the efficient use of the relevant reports, information, and findings of the Bangko Sentral which it shall make available to the Corporation."
Here's the rub- the BSP had primary responsibility to monitor these banks, and in fact if reports are to believed, had started its investigation of Legacy banks as early as 2001. Why did it take 7 years before it concluded that these banks were conducting unsafe and unsound banking practices? If we are to believe the allegations of ex-PDIC President Ricardo Tan that it had conducted its own investigations of these same banks in 2005 where it found anomalies and irregularities, then why didn't BSP move earlier against these banks? From the aforementioned article above, BSP would have shared its 2001-2004 findings with the PDIC, and since both investigations lead to the same conclusion, then why didn't the BSP and for that matter, the PDIC file charges against the bank officers?
The consultant offered a juicy tidbit: when the combined SEC and NBI teams raided the Makati offices of the Legacy Consolidated Plans, they found several boxes of documents belonging to the Legacy banks. The PDIC got wind of this development, and requested that it be turned over to them. The SEC refused, and the PDIC had to go to court to compel the SEC for the turnover of the documents to them. Can you imagine that? SEC not cooperating with PDIC. BSP turning down PDIC's loan request of P14 billion. And who ends up the loser and victim of this inter-agency intramurals? As usual, the depositors. No wonder Celso and his ilk were and are able to milk the public: these gov't agencies cannot get their act together.
But wait... isn't that the SEC whose commissioner was tagged as having received almost P7 million worth of goodies from CGA? We heard from the grapevine that during the height of senate and congressional investigations of the Legacy mess and SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez, big boss caused the family of Martinez to be billeted in Hongkong, shades of Jun Lozada. Rumor has it that the family of the commissioner was held hostage so as not to implicate the boss of Celso and Speaker. Jesus Martinez kept his mouth shut until death shut him up for good (or bad). If this rumor is true, then this explains why Celso is scot-free while his US counterparts- Bernie Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford- have been indicted for numerous charges, and more importantly, been stripped of their assets.
Here's the rub- the BSP had primary responsibility to monitor these banks, and in fact if reports are to believed, had started its investigation of Legacy banks as early as 2001. Why did it take 7 years before it concluded that these banks were conducting unsafe and unsound banking practices? If we are to believe the allegations of ex-PDIC President Ricardo Tan that it had conducted its own investigations of these same banks in 2005 where it found anomalies and irregularities, then why didn't BSP move earlier against these banks? From the aforementioned article above, BSP would have shared its 2001-2004 findings with the PDIC, and since both investigations lead to the same conclusion, then why didn't the BSP and for that matter, the PDIC file charges against the bank officers?
The consultant offered a juicy tidbit: when the combined SEC and NBI teams raided the Makati offices of the Legacy Consolidated Plans, they found several boxes of documents belonging to the Legacy banks. The PDIC got wind of this development, and requested that it be turned over to them. The SEC refused, and the PDIC had to go to court to compel the SEC for the turnover of the documents to them. Can you imagine that? SEC not cooperating with PDIC. BSP turning down PDIC's loan request of P14 billion. And who ends up the loser and victim of this inter-agency intramurals? As usual, the depositors. No wonder Celso and his ilk were and are able to milk the public: these gov't agencies cannot get their act together.
But wait... isn't that the SEC whose commissioner was tagged as having received almost P7 million worth of goodies from CGA? We heard from the grapevine that during the height of senate and congressional investigations of the Legacy mess and SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez, big boss caused the family of Martinez to be billeted in Hongkong, shades of Jun Lozada. Rumor has it that the family of the commissioner was held hostage so as not to implicate the boss of Celso and Speaker. Jesus Martinez kept his mouth shut until death shut him up for good (or bad). If this rumor is true, then this explains why Celso is scot-free while his US counterparts- Bernie Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford- have been indicted for numerous charges, and more importantly, been stripped of their assets.
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