Permanent Plans Incorporated in deep trouble

A distressed pre-need company is giving health products, slimming teas and coffee to thousands of its planholders. Permanent Plans Incorporated, owned by Juan Miguel Mardrigal Marquez is giving food stuffs and health products to its planholders after it encountered serious financial problems. Planholders are now up in arms. They want their money back and they are thirsty for justice.

Last April 27, its Baguio-based thrift bank was ordered closed by the Central Bank after failing to resolve deep and long-standing financial obligations coupled with ownership dispute problems. Depositors of Accord Savings Bank were left in the lurch. Yet, the PDIC assured depositors that they will do everything possible to ameliorate the plight of bank depositors.

Right now, planholders of Permanent Plans Incorporated have taken the company to task for diluting their trust fund. Permaplans owner Marquez admitted that the trust fund does not have sufficient funds and they are hard-pressed to comply with financial commitments with its planholders.

Permaplans offer non-life and life insurance to thousands of Filipinos based in Central and Northern Luzon. Most of its planholders are market sellers, small entrepreneurs, soldiers, policemen, priests and vendors.

Planholders who sent numerous emails to NPR said they want their monies back. One planholder who is entitled to a 5million peso insurance money said Permaplans is just giving her a burial lot in Payatas and some health supplements. She wants her investment back.

Permaplans planholders are up in arms against the company owner. They will reportedly stage a revolt in Luzon because of how the company reportedly gypped them into investing into the company only to find out that the trust fund had been diluted.

Philippine banks stable?

The Central Bank of the Philippines boasts that we have nothing to fear since local banks are financially stable despite global fears of a US recession. Economic advisers of Gloria like defeated Senatorial bet Ralph Recto says banks are "liquid" , meaning, they have money to spend and give out as loans to the people. Now, if these banks need some more funds, the BSP has enough dollar reserves to back them up.

Here we go again. They just simply don't get it.

What people fear about this US sub-prime crisis is its effects on the performance of the global economy. A slowdown will affect export production, and this will not spare Philippine industries. Yes, the US Senate already approved the $700 billion bailout and this will help mitigate the $1.7 trillion needed to slow the effects of a recession. Yet, companies in the States will be hard put accepting all these exports from us, simply because consumer spending will simply slow down due to recession fears.

I think this pronouncement is more political than anything.

Just to show the world, particularly the Philippine opposition, that the Arroyo regime has enough spunk, government is being used to allay fears of a definitive slowdown. When politics enters the policy-making functions of governance, it bodes ill to the people whom it vows to serve.