Globe Asiatic operated a Ponzi scam —Pag-IBIG

“As the buyers are fakes, not a single loan amortization is paid by them. Amortizations are actually paid by Globe Asiatique. This is a fact admitted by Mr. Delfin Lee, Globe Asiatique’s president.”

by Eric B. Apolonio

Developer Globe Asiatique used a modified version of the Ponzi scheme to cheat the state housing agency Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund out of P6.6 billion in loans, chief executive Darlene Marie Berberabe says in a report.

A Ponzi scheme is fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors—not from any actual profit earned by the organization but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. It always collapses.

The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the technique in early 1920.

In her report to Vice President Jejomar Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Berberabe says Legacy Group owner Celso de los Angeles paid fake borrowers to become “instant” Pag-IBIG members eligible for housing loans, but the borrowers had no intention of buying De los Angeles’ Xevera housing units.

“Since the transaction purportedly involves the borrowing of money for the purchase of housing units, the proceeds necessarily went to Globe Asiatique,” Berberabe said.

“As the buyers are fakes, not a single loan amortization is paid by them. Amortizations are actually paid by Globe Asiatique. This is a fact admitted by Mr. Delfin Lee, Globe Asiatique’s president.”

Berberabe says Globe Asiatique exerted “painstaking efforts” to maintain all of its accounts in Xevera current, resulting in a 99-percent performing accounts ratio. That made it impossible to detect the fraud early.

In October 2010 Binay ordered Pag-IBIG to blacklist Globe Asiatique to stop the company from securing more housing loans from the agency.

“After Pag-IBIG Fund stopped taking out housing loans for Globe Asiatique, its PAR value drastically dropped and now stands at a measly 20 percent,” Berberabe said.

“This is further proof of the fictitiousness of the great majority of Globe Asiatique’s borrowers. The loan proceeds from Pag-IBIG are the same moneys being used to service the accounts.”

The PACQUIAO vs. MOSLEY equation

The renowned boxing bible, Ring Magazine, came up with a 20 category analysis of the Pacquiao-Mosley fight. “Paquiao is not the remorseless savage Duran (Roberto) was, but his ferocity still rates a 4.5. Mosley was a 5.0- quality finisher in his lightweight prime, but time and weight has compromised his capability,” says Ring Magazine. The renowned magazine adds Mosley is bigger and stronger, while Pacquiao is fresher and faster..!

Honest tricycle driver returns P.5M

A tricycle driver in Tuguegarao City has earned the respect and admiration of city folk for returning a bag of jewelry pieces and valuables worth P500,000 to his passenger who had left it inside his vehicle.

Superintendent Pedro Martinez, chief of the Tuguegarao Police Office, identified the honest tricycle driver as Gil Maramag, a resident of Tanza, Tuguegarao City, Ca¬gayan.

Martinez said Maramag was surprised to see the bag left inside his tricycle and, instead of taking interest in it, took it directly to the police station.

The bag contained diamond jewelry pieces and other ornaments worth tens of thousands of pesos.

Police traced the owner – a businessman, who declined to have his identity made public for security reasons.

The city government is planning to give Maramag a citation for his special act of honesty which has given the city and its people pride.

Martinez said Maramag truly exemplified the famous saying honesty is still the best policy even during the present hard times.

The city government and the local police believe the honesty of the tricycle driver abounds the city and called on to other tricycle drivers to follow Maramag's example.

By Dexter See

Chiz backs Palace's 'good news' directive

Senator Francis Escudero said Monday there is nothing wrong with helping the President's Communications Group spread good news about the administration.

Although raising the public's perception of President Benigno Aquino III's administration is a job of the Communications Group, Escudero said, "I would like to think that they are asking for help from fellow officials in government to bring the President's accomplishments and message of hope closer to our people.”

He said the good news should be "factual and not consist of pure embellishments."

A recent Social Weather Stations survey reported net satisfaction with the President at +51, lower than the +64 satisfaction rating SWS recorded in November.

The President attributed the lower rating to news about the government's accomplishments not reaching the people.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte has called on government employees to help spread the word of the administration's accomplishments.

"This job is not only for Cabinet secretaries, but also for undersecretaries and public information offices of agencies,” she said.

By Jonathan de Santos

Dona Victorina joins watchpad!

“Our very own DJ Mojo Jojo joins the “The Awesome Hunt”; a race that involves well-kept gems in key cities all over the Philippines. Follow the teams as they explore each city via pre-determined venues that highlight the beauty of what each has to offer. Whether clues lead them to a restaurant, shop, or landmark, the teams are made to complete specific tasks while documenting the experience and posting them here.”

From: http://www.pldtwatchpad.com/awesomehunt/

Awesome is breaking boundaries. That’s why PLDT myDSL, together with the Department of Tourism, marks this occasion with its most exciting event yet.

The Awesome Hunt is a competition that pits celebrity teams against one another in a race that involves well-kept gems in key cities all over the Philippines. What else besides hidden gems ties all these places together? PLDT myDSL has chosen them as starting points for establishing a wider reach with now over 200,000 new lines installed all over the country.

Follow the teams as they explore each city via pre-determined venues that highlight the beauty of what each has to offer. Whether clues lead them to a restaurant, shop, or landmark, the teams are made to complete specific tasks while documenting the experience and posting them here.

Credit for creating the most adventure-inducing online travelogue earns each member of the winning team P50,000, a one-year free PLDT myDSL subscription, a free trip to a popular summer getaway, and a brand new laptop. How it all plays out depends on a select panel of judges and, of course, by you! So support your favorite teams by keeping it right here because registration and voting will begin soon.

More twists are sure to unfold on Awesome Hunt Day. But for now, we build up the excitement by revealing that picking out the winning team gets one lucky voter a chance to get a laptop, a one-year myDSL subscription, and P50,000 in cash. Increase your chances by learning more about the Awesome Hunt, the teams, and the destinations today!

Oban opposes privatization of Camp Aguinaldo

The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not inclined to support the Aquino administration’s plan to privatize Camp Aguinaldo and other prime government properties to finance key economic programs to include the modernization of the military.

“As far as Camp Aguinaldo is concerned, as I have said, this has to be driven by a strategy. As of now, our efforts is not to sell [Camp Aguinaldo],” the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr., said Friday.

Instead, Oban added, they wanted the 178-hectare Camp Aguino, which houses the Armed Forces general headquarters, to be the headquarters of the three major services, the Philippine Army, the Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Navy.

“We will not sell Camp Aguinaldo. We wanted it to be the lone headquarters by co-locating all these headquarters [of the Air Force, Army and Navy] with the general headquarters so as to make the system more efficient,” Oban said. “Only one big headquarters with each of the three major services having a distinct function.”

Oban said that the privatization of prime government properties would be a big help to the modernization of the Armed Forces but not at the expense of Camp Aguinaldo.

The former Armed Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta, Jr., had also said earlier that the lot that would be vacated by the three major services may be allotted to other purposes such as privatization.

The second option, Mabanta added, was to move out of Camp Aguinaldo and transfer to other military facilities outside of Metro Manila.

However, Mabanta said that if the military had its way, it wanted its general headquarters to remain in Metro Manila.

Mabanta has stressed though that even if they wanted to stay in Camp Aguinaldo, it was not for the military but for the national leadership to decide.

The Armed Forces camps outside of Metro Manila are Clark Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Camp Aquino in Tarlac City, Camp Capinpin in Tanay, the Marine Base Ternate in Cavite and the Naval Base Heracleo Alano in Sangley Point in Cavite City.

Department of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima had earlier raised the idea of privatizing Camp Aquinaldo and as well as Camp Crame, the general headquarters of the Philippine National Police, among other government prime properties in the metropolis.

Purisima said that he had initially discussed the matter with Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who was reportedly supportive of the idea that Camps Aguinaldo and Crame should be resettled somewhere else.

It may be recalled that in 1995, Congress passed the AFP Modernization Act allocating P331 billion for the procurement of new military hardware spread over 15 years.

However, only P28.9 billion of that amount has been utilized to date by the Armed Forces. The modernization law expired last year.

By William B. Depasupil

International Children's Book Day

Celebrated since 1967 on or around the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen on April 2, International Children’s Book Day (ICBD) aims to inspire love for reading and particularly draw attention to children’s books. Every year, National Sections of the International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) take turns in serving as the international host of the ICBD deciding on the theme and inviting a prominent author and a famed illustrator from the host country to write a message to the children of the world and design a poster. The materials are disseminated to all the National Sections and via the Internet to promote the publication and reading of children’s books. This year, the National IBBY Section in Estonia plays host to the global celebration.

The IBBY is a non-profit organization founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1953. It represents an international network of people worldwide who are committed to bringing books and children closer together and promoting international understanding through children’s books. Its membership includes authors and illustrators, publishers and editors, translators, journalists and critics, teachers and students, librarians and booksellers, social workers and parents. The Estonian Section of IBBY was founded in 1993 and re-established in 2003. It is a non-profit organization with 35 individual and five organizational members that include librarians, writers, illustrators, researchers, and publishing houses. The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY), a private, non-stock organization serves as the Philippine National Section of the IBBY.

This year’s ICBD theme is “The Book Remembers.” It stresses the fact that in works of literature, the most accurate accounts of people in the past are those written at the time that these people lived.

If we are to have a nation of readers, we must begin to initiate our young into the love and habit of reading good books. Reading opens new horizons, develops the imagination, broadens one’s vocabulary, and enhances comprehension skills. More importantly, it nurtures in the reader a broader perspective of the world.

As we mark this year’s International Children’s Book Day, we hope our writers will develop books that will enrich the knowledge of the young and promote a better understanding of diverse cultures as well as respect for individual differences.