Groups seek SEC help

Two non-government organizations is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to look into the capability of a firm to undertake a multi-million peso housing project.

The Movement for Responsible Enterprise (MORE) and the Alliance of Volunteer Educators (AVE) sought SEC intervention involving the housing project Alto Project Asia and officials of the provincial government of Bulacan.

"If one is handling equities and securities, the deal could be likened to insider’s trading, which is punishable under the Securities Act, wherein a person with access to advance information, earns a windfall by buying shares of a listed company at a low price and consequently, unloads the shares, in this particular case, the real estate property, at a much higher price," they said in a statement.

The NGOs cited SEC records showing that Alto Project Asia, based on its incorporation papers, only has an authorized and paid-in capital of P5 million and P1.25 million, respectively.

At a closer scrutiny of its financial position, SEC records showed that Alto Project Asia only has a total paid-up capital of P0.3125 million.

"How can a construction firm of such capitalization able to corner a multi-billion housing project otherwise known as BUHAI (Bulacan Housing and Agro-Industrial) project," the NGOs asked.

Norzagaray Mayor Feliciano Legaspi, with corroboration by the staff of the town’s assessor office, affirmed that a provincial board member personally negotiated and entered into a land-purchase agreement with the landowners.