Owner of failed insurance firm plays Christ in Holy Week rites

MANILA, Philippines – A provincial politician who is facing a flurry of graft and fraud charges over his failed insurance business played the part of Jesus Christ in a Holy Week rite on Good Friday, a radio report said Saturday. Bombo Radyo reported that Celso delos Angeles, mayor of Santo Domingo, town in Albay and owner of troubled Legacy Consolidated Plans, had played the role of Christ as a vow since he became mayor in 2007. He also played Christ's role of washing the feet of residents who played "disciples" on Maundy Thursday, said the report, adding that Delos Angeles believes these will help him hurdle the trials he now faces. He also maintained he has the support of the local residents who he said dismiss the charges against him related to the Legacy Group of Companies. De Los Angeles has maintained that the collapse of his companies was a result of the global financial crisis, but some of his business associates and executives have accused him of siphoning off company funds for unrelated purposes. Probers from Congress claim that De Los Angeles’s shenanigans had been abetted by unscrupulous officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who are supposed to protect insurance plan holders and investors. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has charged De Los Angeles along with newly retired SEC commissioner Jesus Martinez with graft after finding that Martinez received a house and a car as gifts from the funds of Legacy Consolidated Plans Inc. in February 2006 up to present. The Bureau of Immigration has placed De los Angeles in its hold-order list to prevent him from fleeing abroad. Senate probers led by Sen. Mar Roxas are also looking into the possibility that thousands of soldiers who are plan holders of Scholarship Plan Philippines Incorporated (SPPI), a pre-need company and member of Legacy group, have been affected by Legacy’s collapse. “He (De los Angeles) duped even our soldiers and policemen. We’ll not stop until he’s been made accountable for his actions," Roxas has said. - GMANews.TV