2 state witnesses in Legacy mess remain under Senate custody

MANILA, Philippines - Two officers of the Legacy Group of Companies remain in Senate custody despite an order for their arrest from two courts in Cagayan de Oro City.

Head agent Roland Argabioso, National Bureau of Investigation Field Operations Division chief, said his men did not serve the arrest warrants on Carolina Hinola and Namnama Pacetes-Santos but informed the offices of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Manuel Roxas II and retired Gen. Jose Balajadia, Senate sergeant-at-arms, that the two have been ordered arrested.

“There is protocol in the Senate,” he said. “So we (NBI) have to honor the protocol but we still served the communication, informing the Senate about the warrants of arrest on the two Legacy officers.”

The warrants were issued last Tuesday by Judge Sulayman Macato-on of Cagayan de Oro Regional Trial Court Branch 24 and Judge Joefre Acebido of Branch 41.

Hinola and Santos are being eyed as state witnesses in the syndicated estafa case against Sto. Domingo, Albay Mayor Celso de los Angeles, who controls the Legacy Group.

The NBI has to make a partial return of the warrants to the courts as they are still hunting four other suspects who have pending warrants of arrest, Argabioso said.

The NBI has not disclosed the names of the four other Legacy officials.

Last week, police placed De los Angeles under technical arrest after serving the warrant of arrest on De los Angeles at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

Delos Angeles was tagged as the mastermind behind the financial schemes that led to the collapse of the Legacy Group, comprised of 13 rural banks and affiliate firms Legacy Consolidated Plans, Scholarship Plan Phils., Legacy Card Inc., One Realty Corp., Galaxy Realty and Holdings Inc., Legacy Consolidated Asset Holdings Inc., Fusion Capital Corp., Conventional Realty Corp., Shining Armour Property Inc., and Legacy Motors Inc.

Among the rural banks were Rural Bank of Parañaque, Rural Bank of San Jose (Batangas), Rural Bank of Carmen (Cebu), Pilipino Rural Bank, Philippine Countryside Rural Bank, Rural Bank of Calatagan (Batangas, now Dynamic Rural Bank), Rural Bank of DARBCI, Rural Bank of Kananga (Leyte, now First Interstate Rural Bank), Rural Bank of Bisayas (Minglanilla, Cebu, now Bank of East Asia), and San Pablo City Development Bank.

These banks reportedly offered returns of as much as 30 percent per annum on huge deposits and misused collaterals surrendered by clients.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had filed complaints against officers of rural banks affiliated with the Legacy Group last Jan. 5 and Feb. 6 after discovering alleged “massive diversion of funds through fictitious loans.”

It was found out that many bank borrowers denied having obtained loans from the closed banks.

Others admitted having signed blank documents in consideration for commissions ranging from P10,000 to P15,000 for supposed loans amounting to millions of pesos.

The BSP also discovered that falsified documents were used to support alleged loans. Public documents falsified included mayor’s permits and Department of Trade and Industry registration certificates.

It is believed the fictitious loans were used to siphon money from the banks.