ROXAS TO DOJ: INVESTIGATE PRE-NEED FINANCIAL WOES
NO SACRED COWS, SENATOR ASKS RAUL

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said the Department of Justice should now come in and investigate the liability of pre-need companies and their officials, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission and other government officials, in misusing the hard-earned savings of millions of plan holders in the country.

"Kailangang kumilos ngayon na si Secretary Raul Gonzalez at umpisahan na ng kanyang departamento ang imbestigasyon nito sa napapabalitang pagkalugi ng pre-need industry. Huwag na niyang hintayin pang utusan niya ni Gloria (Secretary Raul Gonzalez should now act and order an investigation into the reported loooming collapse of the pre-need industry. He should not wait for Gloria to order him to do so)," he said.

He said the DoJ can file charges of grand-scale estafa against officers of the pre-need companies and government officials responsible for the industry's financial woes. The DoJ, he added, should likewise prevent them from leaving the country to escape prosecution.

He also said Gonzalez should not zero in on the small players, but rather on big fishes.

"Dapat walang santuhin si Secretary Gonzalez. Huwag puro maliit na tao lang ang pagdiskitahan niya. Iyong malalaking tao, opisyal man ng pre-need company o ng pamahalaa, iyon ang pagtuunan niya ng pansin dahil sila ang may kagagawan kung anuman ang estado ng industriya ngayon (There should be no sacred cows. He should not focus on the small fries but on influential people, whether from the companies or from government, who were responsible for the current status of the industry)," he added.

The chairman of the Senate trade and commerce committee said he would open an inquiry next week into reports that the pre-need industry is suffering from a P40-billion trust fund deficiency and acknowledgement by insiders that the industry faces collapse due to the impact of the global financial crisis.

"Titingnan natin ito kung may problema ba o wala. Ang mahalaga dito, mukhang nagpabaya ang SEC. Kawawang-kawawa itong mga nagtabi ng pera para sa edukasyon ng kanilang mga anak, pero hindi naman pala ligtas (We will see if there is a problem or not. What is important here is that the SEC seems to have been remiss in its duties. I pity those who invested their monies for the education of their children only to be told later that their monies are gone)," Roxas said.

He added: "Ang ahensya na dapat ay na nagbabantay dapat dito eh itong SEC. Yung naiiwan sa pansitan ay yung SEC mismo dahil matagal na itong masasamang practice na ito. Matagal nang isinusugal ng mga kumpanyang ito ang pera ng planholder, pero hanggang sa ngayon, wala pa ring kinakasuhan itong SEC na ito (The agency that is supposed to handle these issues is the SEC. But the SEC is always left in the dark. These malpractices have long been happening but until now, the SEC has not filed any cases against any of these companies)."

The Ilonggo senator reiterated his call for the government to act quickly on the financial mess and insisted the Department of Finance should immediately form a task force to look into the industry's problems, removing the same from the SEC, which has failed to address the issue when it was just beginning.

He said the DoF should also ensure a tighter scrutiny of the financial books of pre-need companies to guarantee that they are financially stable to provide for the needs of their plan holders.