Thursday, March 12, 2009

Roxas urges DOJ to act fast on Legacy complaints

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today urge the Department of Justice (DoJ) to act swiftly on the complaints filed against officials of the Legacy Group led by owner Celso de los Angeles, to bring justice and relief to the victims of the company’s schemes.


“Pupukpukin natin ang Department of Justice, kakalampagin natin hanggang sa mag-file na sila ng kaso laban sa Legacy, lalo na kay Celso (We will continue to pound on the DoJ for them to immediately file cases against Legacy officials, especially de los Angeles),” the chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce said.


“Ang lahat ng ito ay nasa kamay ngayon ng Department of Justice dahil ito ang mag-fa-file ng kaso laban kay Celso de los Angeles. Babantayan natin ito. Hindi natin papayagan na na idri-dribble lang ito hanggang sa magkalimutan na lang (All these are now in the hands of the DoJ because it will be the one which would file cases against Celso de los Angeles. We will watch them closely. We will not allow them to sit on the cases until the public forgets about them),” he also said.


Complaints have been filed before the DoJ against the Legacy owner and his cohorts by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and various investors, all of which have been referred for preliminary investigation to the “Task Force Legacy.”


Members of the task force have told senators that the preliminary investigation into the complaints would begin on March 21 after all pleadings and counter-pleadings have been filed by concerned parties.


The Ilonggo senator said it was imperative for the Justice department to employ fast action on the cases so aggrieved pre-need planholders and bank depositors and investors could recover the investments they made to the various Legacy companies, such as the Legacy Consolidated Plans Inc., Legacy One Card and its 13 rural banks.


He exhorted prosecutors not to follow the path of the 2005 Task Force against Bank Frauds, which until now has yet to file a single case in relation to the complaints referred to it when it was created.

“Ang tanong ngayon, paano si Nanay Beth? Si Nanay Mila? At iba pang biktima? Paano ang pera nila? Paano mananagot ang dapat na managot dito? Kailangang agarang kumilos ang DoJ para makakuha ng hustisya ang mga kawawang biktima ng Legacy (The question now is, how about Nanay Beth, Nanay Mila and the other victims? How about their savings? Will the persons responsible for this scam be held responsible? DOJ should act swiftly so justice will be served for sake of Legacy’s victims),” he said.


“Itong kamay na bakal na ipinapakita ng gobyerno natin laban sa mga kritiko nito ay dapat gamitin nila dito laban sa mga nanloko, sa mga nagnakaw ng pera mula dito sa mga pangkaraniwang Pilipino (The iron fist that this government is using against its critics should be used instead against these scheming individuals who victimize ordinary Filipinos),” he added.


He also deplored De los Angeles for imputing politics in the pursuit of justice for his own victims and for skirting the issue about his liabilities to them.


“Ito po ay tungkol sa mga kawawang kababayan natin na naghahabol lang ng paraan para maibalik ang pera nila at managot kung sino ang dapat managot kasi nawala itong mga pera nila (This is about the victims who are desperate to get their monies back and who demand justice from those who stole from them),” he said.


He added: “Ang babaw-babaw, lumang tugtugin na po ito, bulok na itong style na ito. Ito ang style ng lahat na walang isasagot (sa mga legal na isyu) kaya inililihis na lang, lilituhin ang publiko at sasabihing pulitika raw (The claim of politics is too shallow, it’s old news, it’s an old excuse. It is the alibi of those who cannot answer the legal issues and who are trying to divert the issue by injecting political motives against those who are running after them).”


The senator was referring to a statement from De los Angeles that the supposed hype over the dissolution of his Legacy group of companies was being used for partisan political interests.(Ms. Jenny Bugarin

Tel. 832-82-80 / +63920-950-6140)


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