Estrada’s Plunder and You
This will be my last post about the Estrada pardon. I am tired and emotionally drained. I’m still unable to fathom the decision to pardon a convicted plunderer of millions. The news that thousands of Erap’s supporters welcomed him home saddened me. These are the same people that Erap stole from.
Consider this :
Social Security System (SSS)
1998 – Carlos Arellano, a childhood friend of Estrada, was appointed chairman and president of the SSS.
October 21, 1999 – Upon Estrada’s instruction, Arellano bought P900 million ($20 million) worth of Belle Corporation stock without authorization from the SSS investment committee.
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)
October 9, 1999 – GSIS president Federico Pascual, another Estrada appointee, was also instructed to purchase Belle shares, in the amount of P1.1 billion ($25 million).
Erap’s Hand in the Cookie Jar
Estrada crony Jaime Dichaves facilitated the SSS and GSIS transactions, and received P189 million ($4 million) as 10% commission for securing the purchases.
Dichaves deposited the check into his account and issued a check to “Jose Velarde” in the same amount, plus an additional P74 million.
Estrada withdrew the funds as “Jose Velarde”.
But the joke was on the people. When GSIS and SSS bought Belle stocks in 1999, they were priced at P3.14 a share. One year later, on December 29, 2000, their value had sunk dramatically to 60 centavos a share. Two years later, they had gone down to 40 centavos a share. Now they are virtually worthless. Two billion pesos of the people’s investments down the drain.
Someday, when you find that you are peniless and unable to get the benefits you deserve from the SSS or GSIS, remember Erap.
via Philippine News
Tags: Joseph Estrada, SSS, GSIS, Arroyo pardon, plunder
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