Press Release
March 2, 2009

ROXAS: DOJ PRE-NEED PANEL 'TASK FORCE PAGONG'

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said government's lackadaisical attitude to help the ailing pre-need industry has become more apparent with the slow phase of the Department of Justice (DoJ) in investigating cases filed against Legacy Group.

Roxas branded as "Task Force Pagong (Turtle)" the task force created by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to supposedly fast-track the preliminary investigation of the various criminal charges filed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Securities an d Exchange Commission (SEC) and a group of private investors.

"Nabuo itong task force na ito noong February 9. Ang unang pagsisimula ng proseso, sa March 20 pa. Ang ganda! Ang tawag dapat dito ay Task Force Pagong. One month na buo na itong task force at wala pa ring nangyayari. Ano ito kalokohan?" he fumed during the hearing of the Senate trade and commerce committee into the financial status of the pre-need industry.

"So kailan makakaasa ang ating mga kababayan na madadala na ito sa korte? Two months? Six months? Kelan lalabas ang resulta ng imbestigasyon niyo? Ang nangyayari kasi usap-usap, palugit-palugit, hindi tuloy alam kelan makukuha ang hustisya. Kung ako ang DoJ, sasabihin ko sa mga tao ko tapusin niyo itong mga kasong ito. Kung kinakailangang walang uwian, walang uuwi. Kung kinakailangang matapos sa loob ng isang linggo, isang linggo lang talaga dapat," he said.

The Ilonggo senator said he could not expect much from the Task Force, noting that the DoJ has not even acted on a 2005 case filed by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) against a rural bank also owned by De los Angeles. Until now, he lamented, prosecutors have yet to release their recommendations on the PDIC case.

"Kung sa kapwa mismong taga-gobyerno hindi sila mabilisang kumikilos, sa mga kasong pribado pa kaya? Bakit kami maniniwala sa task force na ito eh hindi naman namin makita na pursigido itong malaman ang katotohanan?" he asked.

The committee chairman lost his cool after Senior State Counsel Rosario Cuevas, a member of the task force, told the panel that the first preliminary investigation hearing into the BSP case against Legacy has been scheduled to March 6, which he noted was almost a month after the task force was activated. Cuevas said the delayed process was partly because the task force had first asked all parties involved to submit their respective affidavits and counter-affidavits before the first hearing was set.

"Napakabagal talaga ng sistema sa ating bansa. Napakakupad ng mga taong ito. Nakakaawa ang ating mga kababayang naging biktima nitong si Celso de los Angeles. Hindi natin titigilan ang DoJ at iba pang ahensiya ng gobyerno na mabilisang resolbahin ang isyung ito. Pupukpukin natin sila ng paulit-ulit nang sa gayun ay mapabilis ang kanilang pagkilos," Roxas stressed.

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