500 Iloilo estafa victims to sue Legacy Group owner

Some 500 Iloilo-based victims of the Legacy Group insurance and pension scam are preparing to lodge an estafa case against owner Celso de los Angeles, who was arrested Tuesday. "Magbigay sila ng evidence at kukuha ng lawyer. Mga 500 members ang plan nila mag-file para may criminal case ng syndicated estafa filed in Iloilo City. Pag file ng fiscal sa court it can issue an arrest warrant (Some 500 Iloilo-based victims are gathering evidence and will get a lawyer to represent them in their court case. Once the case is filed in court, another warrant can be issued against De los Angeles)," said Philip Piccio, a spokesman for the victims.

In an interview on dwIZ radio Wednesday, Piccio, president of the Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) Coalition, said even if De los Angeles gets one court to give him temporary freedom, he can still be arrested by virtue of a warrant issued by another court. According to its web blog, the PEP Coalition is "a group of parents empowering other parents to stand up for their rights and demand what is legally and morally due them. The Coalition is committed to assist its members in their quest for justice and to continue its advocacy for good corporate governance." Police in Quezon City arrested De los Angeles Tuesday based on a warrant issued by a court in Ormoc in Eastern Visayas. Piccio said he plans to meet De Los Angeles at the Quezon City Police Department headquarters in Camp Karingal, to convince him to relent and return the investments of the victims. De los Angeles, however, has been denying the charges against him. When asked about his opinion about the medical condition of De Los Angeles, reportedly suffering from Stage 4 cancer, Piccio said, “Ang planholders mas maraming mas malala, the only difference sila walang pera, siya meron (There are planholders who face medical problems, some worse than the cancer he claims to have. The only difference is that the victims have no money and he has much of it)." “Mag-a-appeal ako, it’s about time ilabas ang pera sa private accounts niya mga properties sa pangalan ng ibang tao at public officials involved na nagpayaman sa kalokohan ng Legacy (I will appeal to him, it’s about time de los Angeles withdraw the money from his private accounts and return it to the planholders)," he added. Rough road to justice Meanwhile, Piccio admitted the victims still face a rough road to justice despite De los Angeles’ arrest. He said they expect de los Angeles and his lawyers to make “all appeals and motions" to delay the case. “Marami pang lubak na dadaanan. (We expect many more potholes on the way to justice) They will make all appeals and motions," he said. Piccio said the only thing they can do now is to continue "making noise" about the mess so the public will remain aware of the developments in the case. “It is a step forward pero di pa dapat itigil dahil di pa nakukuha ang gusto mangyari (De los Angeles’ arrest is a step forward but we cannot stop because we have not gotten the justice we want)," he said. De los Angeles' first night under arrest 'peaceful' Meanwhile, De Los Angeles reportedly spent a "peaceful" first night in police headquarters after being arrested Tuesday. Quezon City Police District head Chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele said Wednesday they had given de los Angeles "humane" treatment during his stay. "Okay naman siya ... Humane naman, di siya tinutukan o kinaladkad (He was okay ... We treated him humanely. He was not poked or dragged)," Mantele said in an interview on dwIZ radio. However, Mantele said De los Angeles may not be able to request a hospital visit from the police, at least without the approval of the court that ordered his arrest.
Mantele said they will have to return the warrant to the Ormoc City court in Eastern Visayas, and wait for its instructions on whether de los Angeles can be taken to the hospital. "We have to return the warrant to the court of origin. It's up to the court to decide. It so happened we were the law enforcement agency that served the warrant of arrest against him," he said. "It's up to the court to decide kung saan ide-decide dadalhin yan (It's up to the court to decide where he will be detained)," he said. Mantele said de los Angeles was initially brought to the QCPD's administration office following his arrest. On Tuesday, Quezon City police served a long-standing arrest warrant on de los Angeles at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City. De los Angeles had been confined at the hospital after undergoing treatment for his stage 4 throat cancer and was later transferred to the Cathedral Condominium inside the hospital's premises, where he was arrested. De los Angeles faces large-scale estafa charges. He was arrested based on a warrant issued by Judge Clinton Nuevo of the Ormoc City Regional Trial Court Branch 12. No bail was recommended for him. De los Angeles was accused of siphoning off millions of pesos from planholders and depositors of his companies. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas filed a case against him March 6 last year regarding the P487 million of solicited funds received from depositors of First Interstate Bank (Rural Bank of Kananga, Leyte), which was under the Legacy Group, that De los Angeles and his co-accused have allegedly “willfully, unlawfully and fraudulently misappropriated." De los Angeles has repeatedly denied the accusations against him. – VVP, GMANews.TV