I?m disappointed with the statement coming from Malaca?ang that for the lack of regulatory powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission, there?s no reason for heads to roll at the agency as is demanded by senators.

Santa Banana, in spite of that Senate inquiry on the failure of some pre-need companies (especially that of the Legacy Consolidated Group owned by a politician-businessman) which highlighted the utter incompetence and negligence of the SEC, the regulatory entity mandated to protect public interests, Malaca?ang is now saying that SEC chairman Fe Barin should not resign or be ousted because the agency lacks regulatory powers to begin with. It just doesn?t wash.

My gulay, if Barin and her personnel realize that a pre-need firm like Legacy is already insolvent and cannot deliver its promises to its plan holders in education, pension and memorial services, all the SEC chairperson has to do is sign the paper to drop the axe on the firm. Is that too hard to do, if only to protect public interest?

Yes it?s true that the SEC lacks personnel to monitor all pre-need companies. And of all things, it also has no actuary when this is needed to oversee pre-need trust funds.

But, for the SEC to seek cover for its incompetence and negligence because the SEC lacks regulatory powers is no excuse. Santa Banana, who or what then is there to protect public interest?

Must public interest be sacrificed for the convenience of Barin and her negligent and incompetent personnel?

***

I couldn?t believe what I read yesterday in the newspapers that ?...we should be fair to Barin. She explained that the SEC lacked teeth. These calls (for her to resign) are unfair. Let?s give (her a chance).? All these are coming from Press Secretary Cerge Remonde. Barin also echoed Remonde?s cop-out (palusot) by saying that only the President could tell her to leave.

Let?s rewind a bit, and recall that the pre-need industry has been in distress as far back as over two years ago in 2006 when College Assurance Plan, Pacific Plans Inc. and Pet went bellyup. This should have served as a warning that there was need for tightening the supervisory and regulatory powers of the SEC over them.

Now, it?s the Legacy Group, not only in pre-need, but also in rural banking, going under. Clearly, Barin and her people cannot come out with the palusot that they have not been warned, or were unaware of SEC?s regulatory powers.

Barin?s statement that the SEC was trying to balance the interests of the pre-need firms and the public betrays her lack of knowledge of her agency?s reason for existence.

Santa Banana, if SEC cannot prioritize public interests, no wonder the pre-need industry is in dire stress. If the SEC chairperson is ignorant of the SEC?s existence, my gulay, we are in trouble!

Now, Barin says she?ll take all the blame for the mismanagement of billions of pesos of plan holders in the case of the Legacy Group. But, isn?t that because of the utter incompetence and negligence of the SEC that the CAP, PPI, Pet, and now Legacy have become insolvent?

Why do incompetence and negligence seem acceptable to the Palace? Who now cares about public interest?

***

The Bangko Sentral, on the other hand, has come out with a restraining order prohibiting bank examiners to look deep into the state of their deposits. And this restraining order on the secrecy of bank deposits was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, thus tying up the hands of central bank from digging deeper into the Legacy Group case in an effort to file criminal charges against owners and officials of Legacy.

That?s the reason why I said in an earlier column that the BSP story on Legacy?s rural banks is another matter. Just why the RTC granted this restraining order filed by owners and executives of Legacy, which was also affirmed by the Court of Appeals, is subject to speculation.

Let it be said that at times, the rule of law works against public interests. But, in the long run, the long arm of the law will prevail.

Clearly, there was fraud and unfair banking practices, like the so-called ?double your money,? which was in effect a Ponzi pyramiding scheme to defraud the people resorted to by the Legacy bank owners and officials. But the hands of BSP bank examiners are tied by the bank secrecy law to go further to look into unsound banking practices of Legacy.

Now, the depositors can only rely on the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to give them back not more than P250,000 of their deposits.

But, it would do well to ask BSP why it did not tell its bank examiners to look into the fraudulent and unsound practices of the rural banks belonging to the Legacy Group early on. Again, is it also a case of incompetence and negligence?

***

FCF Minerals Corp. dismissed as a complete fallacy the charges leveled against it by one Kathleen Guillao, purportedly the spokesperson of the Runruno Land Owners Association. The mining firm operates in a Quezon town, Runruno Village in Nueva Viscaya.

Guillao accused the mining firm of allegedly committing ?environmental malpractices,? which ?resulted in health problems,? and of ?deceiving? the community with ?undelivered promises.? In a statement, the company said the charges are nothing but a futile attempt to destroy the good relations the company has forged with Runruno?s village-folks.

?The charges are bereft with an iota of evidence and are a product of her imagination,? the company said, adding that it remains committed to sound and safe mining practices simultaneous with its efforts in helping the community through the company?s various livelihood and health programs.

FCF has in fact spent more than P36 million, or more than it was required to do? in just two years to make a positive impact on Runruno?s economy, health, infrastructure and environment.

Some years ago, Runruno was a fifth-class municipality which hosted no more than 600 households of more than 3,000 people who relied mostly on odd jobs, farming and small-scale mining. Its access roads were hardly passable especially during rainy days and its people insufficiently schooled with nary a healthy program to take care of them.

Now, this town is bursting with activity, brought about largely by FCF Mining. All these complaints against the mining firm are typical of the fact that some groups are out to harass mining firms nationwide for some reason or another. I will give you one guess what they want.

***

My wife and I attended the ?Yang Klassics? invitational gala concert for the benefit of the Klassikal Music Foundation, a long-neglected foundation for budding concert artists. For two hours, the fully-packed Cultural Center of the Philippines, including us, was enthralled.

There was George Yang, of course, a tenor who is self-taught, in a music concert of vintage classics, opera, arias, duets and popular classics, with guest performers Rachelle Geordias, Kuh Ledesma, Raul Sunico, the 16-year granddaughter of George, Krystal Ashley Yang and the KMF scholars: Carl Trazon Fiona Galliano, Joseph Carillo, Elainne Vibal, Cipriano de Guzman Jr., and Joy An Cacayan with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Rodel Colmenar. Freddie Santos directed the show.

I just love listening to George Yang. In fact, I have all his three CDs- The Night is Yang, Forever Yang, and Always Yang. While George is now on a semi-retirement from McDonald?s as chairman, leaving his son Kenneth to run the business, George is now deep into classical concerts. May his tribe increase.