Press Release
February 27, 2009

ROXAS MEETS WITH LEGACY PRE-NEED VICTIMS

DAVAO CITY -- More than 200 Legacy pre-need plan holders will meet with Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas tomorrow (Saturday) to personally relate how businessman Celso delos Angeles tricked them into investing their hard-earned monies into his Legacy Group's schemes.

"Itong mga biktima ni De los Angeles, nag-pundar para sa edukasyon ng kanilang mga anak na ngayo'y nawala nang parang bula. Personal ko pong aalamin ang mga hinaing nila para higit natin silang matulungan na mabawi ang mga ipon nila (De los Angeles' victims invested in the education of their children that now disappeared in thin air. I will personally listen to their stories so that we could better help them recover their savings)," he said.

"Mahalaga na maibalik natin ang tiwala ng publiko sa mga institusyon. Mahalaga ang pinaghirapang ipon ng mga magulang at ang kinabukasan ng kanilang mga anak (It's important that we rebuild the public's trust in institutions. The savings of parents and the future of their children is important to us)," he stressed.

The senator vowed to pursue all efforts to ensure that Legacy victims get their monies back, including relentlessly pressuring the SEC to move fast into placing De los Angeles' personal assets under forfeiture proceedings. He said the feedback by the pre-need victims themselves are important inputs for the remedial measures to be crafted by the Senate Committee on Trade and Commerce, which Roxas chairs.

"Hindi maaaring takasan ni De los Angeles ang mga pananagutan niya. Hindi na dapat makalusot ang mga sindikatong pinababayaan lang ng maluwag na regulasyon ng gobyerno (De los Angeles should not be able to escape from his responsibilities. These syndicates that lax government regulation let loose should not be able to get away with murder anymore)," he said

The senator has initiated an investigation into the reported impending collapse of the industry, allegedly due to deficits in its trust fund. Several pre-need companies have recently shut down supposedly due to the effects of the financial meltdown affecting economies worldwide, compounded by bad business governance by some entities in the industry. Among these companies is the Legacy Consolidated Inc. of De los Angeles, which supposedly sold 50,000 plans for a total of P1.4 billion. Legacy's trust fund, according to the owner, only has P350,000 in its trustee banks.

The next committee hearing on the pre-need industry inquiry would be on Monday, where pre-need victims and owners of closed companies have been invited, along with officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Inc.

Roxas has set up a pool of lawyers to help plan holders victimized by scheming pre-need firms. Those wishing to avail of the free legal services could just text or call 0919-627-6927.

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