Press Release
February 3, 2009

ROXAS: BARIN SHOULD RESIGN NOW OR BE AXED
LEGACY ASSETS SHOULD BE KEPT INTACT, ATTACHED TO TRUST FUND

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Fe Barin and her subordinates who failed to stop the bleeding of the pre-need industry should now resign or be axed, Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said today.

"Dapat magbitiw na sila sa puwesto. O di kaya naman bilang mga appointees ni GMA, dapat sibakin sila sa puwesto ni GMA (They should resign now. Or being appointees of GMA, they should be sacked)," he said a day after the hearing of the Senate trade committee, which he chairs, on the state of the pre-need industry.

"Maliwanag na maliwanag na hindi nila kayang gampanan ang kanilang tungkulin na bantayan at proteksyunan ang pera ng mga plan holders. Sa paulit-ulit na pagkabangkarote ng mga ito, sa paulit-ulit na wala namang aksyon ang SEC, nasasabi natin na kasabwat na sila, may malisya na ito sa paggawa ng trabaho nila. (It is very clear they can do their job of protecting the interests of the plan holders)," he said. With the closure of several companies and the SEC useless all these times, we can now say it is a conspirator in the scheme to defraud plan holders because it favored the interests of the companies over the plan holders)," he said.

He said that the assets of Legacy Consolidated, Inc. should immediately be kept intact and attached to the plan holders' trust fund. He noted that Legacy head Celso Delos Angeles was already able to sell a P55-million property in Ayala, Alabang before the company filed for corporate dissolution on December 2.

"Kailangan ipa-sheriff na lahat iyan para hindi malustay ang mga assets na ito nang sa gayon ay makasiguro tayo na hindi mawala ang mga assets na ito at mapunta sa mga plan holders para mapunuan ang mga kakulangan. Kung humakbang agad ang SEC, lahat ito na-attach at lahat ito na-preserve para sa kapakanan para sa plan holders. (The sheriff should already take custody of all these properties so we can ensure that these are not squandered and are used for the needs of plan holders. If SEC acted immediately, all these assets have been attached and preserved already for the sake of the planholders)," he stressed.

Committee records show that Legacy Consolidated Inc. first informed the SEC about its financial difficulties as early as 2007. Legacy was able to continue selling pre-need plans until end of November 2008, right before it filed for dissolution.

Roxas stressed that immediate action should be done to rescue the funds of pre-need plan holders. Immediate action should be done, including mandating pre-need companies to put in more money in their trust funds. "Noong una, noong good times, kumikita sila, dibidendo sila nang dibidendo. Aba'y ibalik nila kung ano ang mga kinita nila (In good times, when they were earning a lot, they kept on declaring dividends. They should return what they earned)."

He also said that a larger portion of premium payments should be invested first in the trust fund before using these for commissions and other expenses.

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