Overstepping the law

Former Law deans Amado Valdez (UE Law) and Pacifico Agabin (UP Law) said the forfeiture case filed against Vice President Jojo Binay is definitely out of line because it violates Republic Act 1379 (a law that allows the state to forfeit any property unlawfully acquired by a government official or employee).

Citing Section 2, the former law deans said any forfeiture case cannot be filed within a year before a general election or within three months prior to a special election. In the same manner, no judgment on a forfeiture case is also allowed six months prior to a general election, the legal experts added.

Dean Valdez said the Section 2 provision was probably made to make sure the law would not be used for harassment or political persecution — something the Binay camp has been saying, especially since the civil forfeiture case was filed a day after the order to freeze the assets of the Binays had lapsed. It is clear that an “orchestrated attack” is being mounted against the vice president, a Binay follower said, adding the Anti-Money Laundering Council itself is violating its own rules. “Section 16 says no case for money laundering may be filed and no assets shall be frozen or forfeited against a candidate during an election period – and yet they are flagrantly violating this provision. They are clearly overstepping the line of justice,” a law expert also noted. 

P350 million to stay healthy

At 78, business tycoon Roberto “Bobby” Ongpin never does anything second rate. He invested over P350 million to put up a top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art wellness facility called the Aegle Wellness Center which recently opened at The City Club in Makati. Inspired by the goddess of good health, Aegle has complete medical diagnostic facilities with treatment and healing programs that have been carefully developed with Dr. Claude Chauchard and Dr. Ben Valdecañas (shown in the photo with Bobby Ongpin). Dr. Chauchard happens to be a wellness and anti-aging expert known for his “chrono-geno nutrition diet” (which determines what one should eat according to blood type) while Dr. Valdecañas, who is also the medical director of Aegle, is renowned in the field of sports medicine and regenerative research.  

According to Alphaland president Mario “Babes” Oreta, Aegle’s high-tech facilities and treatment programs primarily cater to the members of the City Club and Balesin Island Resort (where another Aegle center at Mykonos Beach is located), and those who wish to maintain good health despite the stresses they encounter in this country. For instance, the hyperbaric oxygen therapy that became very popular several years ago because it helps the body heal faster by administering extra oxygen in the body, is one of the medical services being offered.

Bobby had this idea of putting up a wellness center after reading an article that talked about the booming spa and wellness industry now estimated at over $3 trillion. His interest piqued, Bobby started doing research and discovered a lot of establishments who say they have wellness centers do not actually have the requisite scientific and medical equipment — or the expertise — to make such claims.

For someone whose recollections of a spa experience included a “pummeling” he got from a spa in Germany where he was made to feel like every bone in his body could get broken, while the other more pleasant experience at a spa in Baden-Baden left him “practically bankrupt” since everything was so expensive, the idea of a real wellness center took root nevertheless. While many establishments here in the country offer great spa experience, there are none that can really be called genuine wellness centers — and this lack is what Aegle Wellness Center aims to fill.

“No real self-respecting wellness center could call itself such unless it had complete medical diagnostic facilities,” Bobby averred. “It made sense to me that for one to have a real wellness treatment, one had to start off with a thorough diagnosis of one’s body.  So, I decided a wellness center did not make sense unless we had complete, world-class diagnostic facilities from day one. I was convinced that only through complete diagnosis of each patient’s vital functions could a facility accurately call itself a wellness center,” he said.

France urges EU to clamp down on terrorist funding

Following the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris, the French government has called on the European Union to pass laws that would make it more difficult for terrorists to obtain funding for their activities. In a meeting with EU finance ministers, French officials said there has to be a better way to track down money transfers and limit the movement of cash in accounts suspected of being terrorist financing conduits. 

France is urging governments to strengthen measures that would allow financial intelligence teams to go after suspicious transactions and to adopt a US-style system of freezing assets that include not only bank accounts but also properties, cars and other perks that suspects might be getting. Tighter controls are also being asked on prepaid cards and other forms of electronic cash that facilitate the transfer of money in small amounts and anonymously as well — which might escape the notice of authorities. 

One other source of terrorist funding is through  “cultural goods”such as antiques that are being smuggled from archaeological sites and sold to art collectors who don’t bother to ask where the artwork came from. The terrorists are here, and we have to go faster, further and stronger, the French finance minister urged.

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