SEC reprimands AFP-RSBS

Apart from its financial woes, the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Retirement and Separation Benefits System (AFP-RSBS) has come under fire from securities regulators for the failure of its sports clubs to file reportorial requirements on time and pay the assessed penalties.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suspended the registration of securities of the Riviera Golf and Country Club and Riviera Sports & Country Club Inc. for a period of 60 days or until such that the unpaid penalties are fully settled, whichever comes first.

The two clubs were slapped with a combined penalty of P351,000 for late filing of quarterly reports.

Failure of the two clubs to settle the fine will result in the revocation of their permit to sell securities to the public.

The RGC, owned and developed by the AFP-RSBS, is located in Silang, Cavite.

The RSBS has been criticized for investing heavily in real estate and other non-liquid assets which have been affected by the Asian financial crisis.

Under a new management team, the RSBS has brought down debt levels by over a billion pesos from P4.4 bilion to P3.3 billion.

This was made possible by debt restructuring negotiations with creditor banks and by redirecting RSBS’s portfolio investments from real estate and non-traded equities to a more pension fund-oriented and more liquid portfolio.

The new team is composed mainly of its civilian managers led by president Francisco del Rosario and executive vice-president Tomas Mañalac.

President Arroyo earlier directed the AFP to immediately liquefy the real estate investments made by the RSBS and put it into the Pension Fund for the benefit of the retired military men and their beneficiaries.

Arroyo said the amount generated from sales of the Riviera and Marilaque Investment Corp. could immediately be used by the RSBS for the payment of pensions and other benefits of the soldiers and their beneficiaries.