Legacy Philippines: Shards of broken piggy banks

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IF YOU'RE Filipino and nearly as jaded as I am about policymakers and government executives in the Philippines, this article may come with a tinge of lime juice laced with green mango extract. I'm talking about giving Senator Mar Roxas a two-second thumbs up for raising a howl about Philippine regulators' negligence in protecting the interests of ordinary Filipinos who bought pre-need plans from bankrupt Legacy Consolidated Plans. The sob stories of pre-need Legacy education policyholders are nothing new to us Filipinos, but still we need policymakers who show genuine interest in taking up the cudgels of ordinary folks whose piggy banks are as important as lawmakers' political dreams. And yet I say two seconds only because I'm not about to commit to campaigning for Mar when he eventually runs for president. Not yet. After all, Mar was also among few legislators who knew how important it is to keep an eagle's eyes on pre-need firms and yet we still have this most unpleasant disaster unfortunately named Legacy.

The Legacy Group owner, Celso de los Angeles, applied for corporate dissolution of his chain of companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission in December last year, according to a release by Mar's office. Such a move spells trouble for pre-need policyholders as we all know. But there's something that can make any policyholder seethe with anger now. De los Angeles "admitted to senators he had sold his 55 million pesos real estate in Ayala Alabang shortly before he applied for voluntary dissolution with the SEC." It's like a person selling his house and later telling a friend he could no longer pay his debts because he is bankrupt.

Mar has raised his voice a few decibels higher and has demanded that the Legacy Group owner compensate plan holders and bank depositors and creditors before the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp bail out his bankrupt companies. He has also called on executives of SEC to resign.

The SEC should act now. They should now go to court and ask for an attachment order against Delos Angeles' assets. They are really very slow to act. Do we always have to tell them what to do?), he fumed. Roxas had earlier called on Barin and other SEC officials to resign for their "deliberate" negligence in protecting the interests of pre-need plan holders after their delayed action on the financial difficulties being experienced by pre-need firms.

Mar's track record in the legislative mill as far as protecting the interests of consumers and small investors can be impressive -- that depends on how you look at it, okay? Let me quote a few paragraphs from his About Me webpage:

His heart goes out to consumers who are shortchanged into buying substandard products. He led official probes aimed at strengthening the Consumer Code of the Philippines, the enforcement of proper labeling of goods containing genetically-modified organisms, and stronger safeguards against pyramiding and other similar scams. When the pre-need industry succumbed to a mismanagement-spawned financial crisis that threatened to wipe out the hard-earned investments of hundreds of thousands of consumers, Mar filed the Pre-Need Act of 2005 to improve and strengthen industry regulation and safeguard consumer interest. His leadership continues to provide to provide a sense of security and hope to pre-need plan holders.

So you see, he knows about the pre-need industry and previous unfortunate episodes that dashed the dreams of parents years ago. Crafting a bill and making sure it gets enacted is one thing, watching the executive branch of the government do its job in making sure the law works to its intended purpose is another.

If Mar really wants to be president, he better see to it that the SEC is purged of unwanted personalities. (Corina Sanchez must have already told him that. Team up, guys, for Oplan Legacy Philippines.) If he does it, I will campaign for him in the next presidential elections. Wait, are we sure only the SEC offices smell of fish these days? How about the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and its monetary board? Any ideas? Hmm, let's see.

::: For regular updates on this subject, I recommend you visit Money Smarts. Personal finance editor and blogger Ms Salve Duplito, a parent herself and has experienced dealing with pre-need disasters, is keeping an eye on ongoing probe on Legacy.

::: And, if you're interested in what Mar Roxas would be doing to show his true intentions in the Legacy probe over the next few months (I suppose, not just weeks), there's a blog put together by his supporters who seem to be either media-savvy people or journalists moonlighting as Roxas campaign volunteers. Of course the blog puts Mar's best foot forward, nevertheless it can point to the next steps in the probe.

Sex and investment are an item

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WHOSE idea was it to invent the bolster? It's one of my least liked items in a household -- in a matrimonial bed, to be specific. At night it sits like a wedge in bed between the wife and I when disagreements hit the boiling point. But, thank God, of late the bolster has found its rightful place elsewhere in the bedroom and the queen-size bed now feels just right -- tight enough our flesh touch each other every night. It feels good to share the bed with the wife. Thanks to that condo unit in a building that will be completed in two-three years.

It's strange. How could an investment in a condominium unit that is yet to be built smooth out the rough edges of a relationship? Strange, but it is happening to us and it's a welcome surprise. A big-ticket investment such as property can be a relationship-wrecker, but it doesn't have to be if all parties concerned have a good appreciation of the sacrifices to be made.

The Head of State and the First lady of the Republic of CondoKo have poor fiscal management skills. When we decided to sign the contract to buy the condo unit, we both knew it would involve significant changes to our lifestyle for the next 10-15 years of mortgage payments. I thought it would possibly scatter shards of broken glass in the apartment. We had never been good at money matters. Almost every finance-related congress we organized always ended with the bolster occupying a third of the matrimonial bed. This investment in a condo unit, however, has worked wonders for our relationship.

The past seven weeks since we signed the contract, we've not had major skirmishes at home. We've had arguments over household expenses, but this time they were surprisingly easy to resolve. And that, my friends, is an impressive record for my dear Republic.

I don't know if this should be credited to the stars being perfectly aligned this year as far as our marriage is concerned. Or perhaps it's simply because the decision to invest was popular. Let me recount the days before we signed on the dotted line.

We made a vow to place this property investment at the centre of our financial plan at least for the next two-three years. School-related expenses, of course, still take precedence, but all else is secondary. We recited this vow several times over two nights.

We read to each other a list of things we would give up while we stabilize our cash flow. We read it as if it were some kind of litany. Again and again and again.

We asked ourselves over and over how we wanted this investment. And each time, it was a convincing duet of lovers who wanted to own a house -- more specifically the condo unit we were about to buy.

The result? I'm pretty confident we could overcome any future disagreements on money matters. And more importantly, the bolster has been out of commission and these days we tend to keep the airconditioning hard at work every night so the room's temperature can play catch up with ours. Okay, that's wasting money. Well, life's not all about money. Okay, got to turn out the lights.


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::: Related topics: 'Saving for Dummies' written by Stupid; Poor guy signs cheque for 4m++ pesos

::: First time to visit? Head over to my library for a quick look at previous articles.

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There's no money in blogging

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So why should I keep doing this? Or am I wrong? Or maybe I've to remind myself what this is all about.

When I started this blog, I had no idea what positive contribution this would have on keeping myself on my toes in meeting my commitments to paying for the house that I bought in late November 2008. Today I still have no idea about how this could possibly be anything that would contribute in any way to my goal. The only thing I'm quite certain of right now is that this has helped me always bear in mind that I've made a serious commitment.

I don't know what it is about writing that makes me think it can help me maintain my direction. But so far, I can say that each time I write an entry I feel that it helps me to focus on my goal -- to finish paying for the condominium unit that I bought, and pay it in a shorter time than the financing scheme has alloted.

For one, it has kept me extremely aware of little things that I do that earn extra money that I could load into my bank account and keep the checking account sufficiently loaded and avoid bouncing cheques. I've been writing technical reports on the side to augment my regular income and that's the only thing I can do right now to earn extra. It takes a lot of discipline though to produce those reports and I've promised to write about it from time to time if only to remind me that there are extra tasks that I need to do to keep the family financially liquid.

There's one other thing that I clearly see as a positive result of starting condoko. It has encouraged me to spend a little more extra time surfing the Net for information that may help me understand my finances and my investment. And, oh boy, what an abundance of websites we have that con people to believe that they are the credible sources of information for people who have money to invest. Almost everybody turns out to be paid by this and that developer to endorse their projects. But there are websites that are truly meant to help readers educate themselves about investing. I've started a list of these sites and I will continue to add more to this list and I do hope others who stumble upon this blog will find it useful as well.

Now I'm surprising myself. Turns out I want to be a neighbourly Netizen. Lol. Is there such a thing? Being nasty to others seems to be more enjoyable on the Net these days.

To be continued
(Next: Loneliest blogger)
Back to Home
::: First time to visit this blog? You'll have a better idea of what this blabber is all about if you click on previous entries below.

• I bought a house
• A cheque for 4million ++ pesos
  

::: btw, i found very good and some interesting reads on these sites.

My librarian's page

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Scroll down for a listing of articles on a Pinoy expat's journey to finally owning a property back in the Philippines while he toils in a foreign land. Do browse through this mini-library where you will find a catalog regularly updated by our Pinoy expat's librarian -- Ms. Tapia.

If you're new to this site, you may want to subscribe to my pages. The buttons are on the top left parts of this page. Have a good day!

Ang pera ko at ang presyo ng bilihin
Inflation rates in the Philippines next year are projected to be milder than in 2008. Must be good news. But what do I care? You and I should at least keep track of this economic indicator once in a while. We may earn in currencies that when converted give us loads of pesos, but when inflation rates are red-hot, we lose. Okay, lemme listen to the pea-sized economist part of my brain.

Don't ask me how to save money
Now I know how important it is to save up way before you actually buy a house or go around scouting for one. Tell me I sound mega-clueless. Well, I knew since ages ago that anyone who wants to invest in a property or buy one has to have saved a significant amount. But it's not easy when there are so many things that you want to have -- things that you've always

My librarian's page
Scroll down for a listing of articles on a Pinoy expat's journey to finally owning a property back in the Philippines while

Buying a condo is unwise?
Blogging has sparked in me an interest in checking out other blogs on related topics and this has led me to sites that I think would be useful to people mulling investing in property. I wish I had come across some of their blog posts prior to deciding on buying my own condo unit, but I've no regets really. Sometimes it's just reassuring to know what you think you should know before you make an

cyber-clippings (dec2708)
Most of us who work away from home are most likely in a situation that does not allow enough time to keep ourselves updated with news that we cannot afford to miss. I'm just lucky though that my job involves mining the Net for information, so let me gather from time to time some tidbits that I guess will be useful reading for you guys. The items below are clippings from websites that I believe

Got extra money but expenses have soared
Finally, I’ve finished writing my second report for the month, the second one that will earn me extra money to help make ends meet. The two reports will bring in an additional 5,500 pesos. I promised to write four such reports every month and I do hope I will be able to succeed in forcing my brain to think of topics that the bosses will find agreeable – four every month, wow. If I succeed in

An ATM talks
let me forget my own woes and worries today and give you instead links to some sites and blogs that talk about the trials and travails, and successes, of pinoys working overseas:
liham ni amer: melodramatic ang dating pero katuwa pa rin basahin lalo na kung ikaw'y ofw at pakiramdam mo tinuturing kang ATM ng mga kamag-anak mo sa pinas. storya ni ramona: isa siyang caregiver sa US na maituring mo

When liempo is truly sinful
And I thought we’d be having less than sinful meals to cut costs. But today we had grilled liempo and stir-fried chicharo for brunch, and pochero (the genuine one, according to Ilocanos) for dinner. Sarrraap. How exactly are we going to truly cut costs if we keep this love for delicious food? I don’t know. I enjoy a meal of tuyo (dried fish), but I can’t possibly have it twice a day or five times

Poor guy signs a cheque for 4m++ pesos
Signing cheques for the first time gave me the creeps. Having to sign one for close to five million pesos is something that freaks me out. But this is something that I have to contend with right now. The developer’s finance office, the broker says, wants me to sign another cheque, one for close to five million pesos instead of the one that I’ve issued for less than three million pesos. Yup,

I bought a house
I’m still incredulous at buying a house a few days ago in the Philippines. Okay, I’m actually scared. The Contract to Sell that my wife and I signed says the condominium unit costs 3-point something million pesos. That’s the net contract price. Add up the interest and … well, let me just mention the lower figure, it makes the future easier to imagine for now. The unit is on the 20-something

Buying a condo is unwise?

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Blogging has sparked in me an interest in checking out other blogs on related topics and this has led me to sites that I think would be useful to people mulling investing in property. I wish I had come across some of their blog posts prior to deciding on buying my own condo unit, but I've no regets really. Sometimes it's just reassuring to know what you think you should know before you make an important decision.

I thought of coming up with a list of these useful sites so people who drop by my blog (and of course I doubt anyone's reading this other than myself) and are cruising the Net for information on investing in property could get an idea where to go to quench their thirst for insights.

The Property Spectrum: It's got short pieces on property investment choices for expat Pinoys. There's an interesting discussion on when it's best to buy that dream house relative to the number of years that an expat worker will have to slave overseas to pay the mortgage.

F. Colayco: I've not read most of his posts but I'm pretty sure he's got this amazing perspective on investing in property. He asks: Is a condomimium a good investment? I hate that piece. Makes me question my own choice. But if you're thinking of buying a condo unit, go visit his blog and minimise guessing.

I'll try adding more sites to this list in future. Subscribe to this page for additions to this list.

You know of any other useful sites? Jot it down here please.