Guilty by association?

It is just unfortunate that this investigation into the activities of the Legacy Group came near election time.

Many people, primarily politicians, are being persecuted for their alleged association with the Legacy Group and/or its owner. True, it is our duty as citizens to look into the activities of our public officials. Unfortunately, there are some who are looking into with less than admirable motivations.

Just look at the case of Parañaque Rep. Ed Zialcita who is now the apparent target of a smear campaign using the donations he had received from the Legacy Group, for and on behalf of his constituents, as ammunition.

Zialcita’s critics want the public to believe that he directly benefited from the donations made by Legacy, and not his constituents who had received free burial assistance, among other benefits.

Zialcita says he did not use for his own benefit a single centavo of the Legacy donations. And he’s willing to face in court or anywhere anyone who would say otherwise.

But the accusations do not stop here. There are reports that the congressman’s detractors may produce paid witnesses against him to give the impression that he had conspired with Legacy to defraud investors and that he had used his position to protect the company.

The fact that retired SEC commissioner Jesus Martinez is a second cousin of Zialcita, and the few lunches and coffee they had shared, had been used to paint a picture of an alleged conspiracy on their part to protect Legacy as a quid pro quo.

There is something very wrong with this picture. It already assumed that Martinez is guilty of coddling Legacy’s misdeeds. And that any person who happens to know Martinez, had lunch with him, or worse, had a picture taken of him with Martinez, is guilty by association.

Still if any fault can be attributed to Zialcita, it may be that he was too trusting of the people he meets, so much so that he or his staff may not have done due diligence on Legacy before accepting its donations. But can politicians be expected to do background checks on the companies that donate to them? Unless, of course, the donor is widely known to be a crook at the time of the donation.

If the claimed irregularities against Legacy had escaped the radar of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Insurance Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), can someone like Zialcita be expected to sniff out that there’s something wrong with Legacy, thus he won’t accept its donations?

Not even the people who invested their hard-earned money and are now going after Legacy and its owner in court had the slightest inkling of any wrongdoing. Nobody even blamed them even when anybody knows that any investment that offers very high returns is risky.

Of course not. Surely, first and foremost in the minds of those who facilitate the acceptance and distribution of donations is to accept them fast so they’d reach the intended beneficiaries soonest and because they are competing with other potential beneficiaries, especially during these difficult times.

Even the church does not ask whether a donation being made came from a shady undertaking. To it, a donation is a donation is a donation. The important thing is that it gets to alleviate the plight of the poor.

On hindsight, it may be argued that Legacy made the donations in an effort to ingratiate itself to Zialcita, even with the latter not knowing the agenda, if any, behind them. But that would be according a congressman’s office with too much power, more imagined than real.

As to the few meetings between Zialcita and Martinez, so what? People, more so cousins, take lunches together, but it cannot be assumed that they were plotting something in particular while eating.

We do not know if Martinez is guilty or not. We do not know what transpired during those lunches between Martinez and Zialcita. We do not know if indeed, Zialcita did not personally benefit from those donations although he said categorically and with conviction that he did not. The point is, it is our responsibility as Filipino citizens not only to go after public officials guilty of any wrongdoing using public money, but also to make sure that those who are not doing anything wrong are insulated from black propaganda.

Not so hidden agenda

If you live in Eastwood, Blue Ridge, St. Ignatius villages, or Corinthian Gardens, chances are, you have heard of this talk-of-the-town or at least seen this lifestyle beauty salon along Libis, Quezon City.

The buzz is getting louder and louder for Krizalis Beauty Salon. This exclusive haunt of the rich and famous has been there at the Village Center building along Libis for two years, yet has remained low-key all this time for obvious reasons—salon owners want to keep the place exclusive for their very special clientele.

Top notch doctors such as Figaro owner Dr. Amante go there for their beauty regimen. Mini Borja of Intermatrix, Mary Ann Mendoza, and Jenny Banal, wife of coach Joel Banal are patrons too.

Celebrities have also been spotted going in and out of this quaint yet elegant place in frequent fashion. They include Gabby Eigelmann, Lindsay Custodio, broadcaster Aljon Bendijo and ABS-CBN’s rising star Krista Ranillo.

Krizalis, an entrepreneurial pursuit of two friends Emma Danan and Malette Gatan, has been in Libis since 2007. Mac Labay and Sam Baysa, two of the most sought-after hairstylists around have been servicing the Libis crowd since the salon opened two years ago.

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