The surprise arrest of actress Neri Naig has once again put the spotlight on the prevalence of get-rich-quick schemes in the Philippines.
Proponents of these fraudulent investment activities have been luring innocent people to invest their hard-earned money with them.
As it turns out, part of their scheme is to use celebrity endorsers to make their products or offerings more attractive and popular.
This, according to Neri’s husband Chito Miranda, was what happened to Neri, who was merely an endorser of Dermacare-Beyond Skin Care, the company at the center of the controversy.
This is not the first time that a celebrity endorser got embroiled in such a scandal. There was also Ricardo Cepeda who spent 11 months in jail because of a syndicated estafa charge lodged against him for being a brand ambassador of a company that turned out to be fraudulent. Luis Manzano was also dragged into something similar but managed to clear his name.
My sources said Neri herself went to the Securities and Exchange Commission last year when there were already complaints about Dermacare to explain that indeed, she was just an endorser.
The SEC had warned her then that the company she was endorsing was engaged in the illegal sale of securities.
Against this backdrop, it is unfortunate that endorsers like Neri are behind bars while the main proponents of these investment scams are still out there.
The SEC must work double time to bring the masterminds to justice. This would send a message to others engaging in similar activities that they could end up in jail.
Greed
At the core of all this is greed for easy money. Both proponents and victims want easy money.
But our regulators have repeatedly said that if it’s too good to be true, then it must be a scam.
No Ponzi-like scheme has ever succeeded because it needs to keep on taking money from other people to pay those who invested earlier. Investors must be aware of this and not be lured by such easy money schemes.
The SEC, for its part, must be vigilant because investors continue to skirt around regulators.
There must be more big fish convictions like Rosario Baladjay, the so-called pyramid scam queen.
Baladjay, who founded Multitel, was sentenced some years back to a total of 455 years for violation of the Securities Regulation Code and syndicated estafa.
And then there’s Joel Apolinario, a self-anointed pastor, who founded the Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. (KAPA), touted as the largest investment scam in Philippine history.
The SEC estimates that some five million people may have been duped by KAPA. They were enticed to share their “blessings” by donating P10,000 to the organization, for a 30 percent return every month.
An estimated P50 billion may have flowed into KAPA, the SEC said.
Last year, the courts found Apolinario guilty of syndicated estafa.
But as I said, we need more convictions if only to show scammers that defrauding people of their hard-earned money has its consequences.
They need to know that the long arm of the law will eventually catch up to them.
Celebrity endorsers must also be careful with the products and services they lend their name to.
In a country that is fast becoming a scam capital, we all must be vigilant against fraudsters. As authorities have warned, we must be wary if it’s too good to be true.
Biofertilizer issues
University of the Philippines Los Baños chancellor Jose Camacho Jr. cleared the air on the issue surrounding biofertilizer BIO-N, which was developed at UPLB-BIOTECH.
The agreement granting Agrispecialist Inc. (ASI) exclusive rights to produce, market and distribute BIO-N, Camacho said, is the culmination of a careful and transparent decision-making process.
“It addresses critical shortcomings in the biofertilizer market, specifically in the availability of BIO-N, which UPLB had hoped to address through the establishment of BIO-N mixing plants all over the country in partnership with the Department of Agriculture from 2004 to 2022. However, as of 2022, only 20 percent of the DA’s 83 BIO-N mixing plants has remained operational,” he said.
This limited production capacity has hindered farmers’ access to BIO-N.
Thus, through the agreement, Camacho said ASI is now positioned to produce BIO-N at scale, ensuring its availability across the country.
“This empowers farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices while reducing reliance on expensive chemical inputs.”
He said the licensing arrangement underwent rigorous scrutiny by the Fairness Opinion Board, convened by the Department of Science and Technology.
“The FOB concluded that the terms of the agreement are fair, equitable and beneficial to the public,” he said.
Camacho made the clarification after the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) called on Congress and the executive branch to investigate the move of UPLB to grant an exclusive license to ASI to use, produce and sell BIO-N nationwide.
“ASI – a newcomer in the biofertilizer industry – has allegedly been telling existing and potential BIO-N clients, including farmers’ cooperatives, private enterprises and national and local government agencies, to stop making, marketing or using BIO-N without ASI’s permission,” the FFF said.
The group likewise claimed that the production and supply of BIO-N in various areas has reportedly dwindled because producers now need the permission of ASI. This is harming farmers, they said.
Fingers crossed this issue will soon be resolved to avoid a fertilizer crisis. I hope different interests will be aligned in a way that will be good for the country.
* * *
Email: eyesgonzales@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.