Businessmen beware . . . here comes da judge!

To outsiders, the realm of Philippine business is perplexing, considering that practices are tightly intertwined with cultural quirks, forming a maze of customs that foreigners and even balikbayans find difficult to navigate. Just ask anyone who has spent a whole day (or week?) going through business requirements that involve so many forms that require so many signatures of different people in different departments located on different floors or buildings.

Add to all that the ages-old practice of areglo or “cash-sunduan” that can place a person at an advantage or disadvantage in business dealings. l have my share of horror stories as I’m sure most of you have, about businessmen being cheated out of their investments by unscrupulous parties with the connivance of those who make areglo.

This is the predicament that erstwhile Guam-based couple, originally from San Fernando, Pampanga, Rolan and Alejandra Bansil have found themselves in after sinking hard-earned money in what they thought was a great business venture in the Philippines.

The Bansils applied for a Small Town Lottery (STL) franchise which, via Republic Act 1169, has been institutionalized and is being run by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). The STL generates 6 to 10 billion pesos in annual revenue - and promises good returns for operators like the Bansils.

In 2006, with their partners, the Bansil couple formed Pilipinas Pacific Rim Corporation (PPRC) to operate STL in the province of Albay. In accordance with the guidelines of the PCSO, a P10 million cash bond for the project was posted by the Bansils for PPRC.

After only seven months and the company had not yet begun to post profits, two of the partners allegedly started to pressure the Bansils into turning over to them the management and control of PPRC’s day-to-day operations. The Bansils refused, pointing out that it was extremely unreasonable to expect their business to be profitable in such a short period.

In the midst of this disagreement, a local bettor hit the jackpot of P2 million. When that happened, the two partners who had wanted to take over the company, plus the chief accountant, supposedly evaporated from the scene, turning their backs on their fiscal obligations to the winning bettors. They left the Bansils to face up to the responsibility. With the company’s name and their personal reputation at stake, the Bansils raised the prize money for the winning bettors.

In the meantime, without the knowledge of the Bansils, the renegade partners were hard at work, producing (forging?) some “official documents” of the company that enabled them to sell all the PPRC stocks to another party for the paltry sum of P5 million!

The Bansils were shocked. Aside from not getting a single centavo from the evidently spurious “sale” of the company, that P5 million didn’t even match the P10 million cash bond and the over P2 million prize money that they had already put up for the company — not to mention all its operating expenses. Sadly, this sale was just for starters.

The renegades then executed a Deed of Assignment — with Declaration of Trust and Power of Attorney — to yet another group! This time, however, the exchange was done for “Valuable Consideration,’’ which in layman’s terms, can mean anything under the sun.

The Bansils patently denied that they had signed any documents or authorization letters. They brought this matter to Quezon City RTC Branch 93 where, allegedly on the suggestion of a judge (the Supreme Court can easily identify this man of the bench) the case was filed in the Special Commercial Court in Albay. There, justice smiled on the Bansils as the court recognized their position as rightful owners of the company.

However, much to the Bansils’ dismay, the group filed yet another case, this time under RTC Branch 92 where the same judge ruled in favor of the purported interlopers. The Bansils felt that all their pleadings and evidences fell on the deaf ears and the unseeing eyes of the judge — despite the fact that it was so obviously an “open-and-shut case” in the Albay court. Because of his decision, the judge effectively placed the management of the company in the hands of the Bansils’ rival group.

At this point, the Bansils are probably wondering why the pretenders and the other new parties had the effrontery to take all those steps against them — and were successful in their underhanded moves. Too late, they’re beginning to understand how business can be undone here, depending on one’s arrangements for areglos and “cash-sunduans”.

But the Bansils are unfazed. They’re determined to fight back. This, despite the fact that everywhere they go, whether it’s to the PCSO or to the courts, they’re confronted by characters with Cheshire cat grins and have everything but fair play written on their foreheads.

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