My wife and I invested money with her relatives for them to start a Security Agency (KMSA) about 8 years ago. This agency grew from a few employees to almost 300 and is located in Baguio City. We were living in the USA at the time, but have since been living in Baguio City.

Our motivation to invest was not for personal gain, but to help employ people from the province and to support a charitable foundation we had started.

While we were in the USA, company employees stole (an estimated 35 to 60 million pesos} from the company, in what appears to be in collusion with MetroBank employees. This is yet to be proven in a court of law. We have presented our evidence to Metro Bank (see letter Dated Jun 26 2007), but MetroBank has been uncooperative, which as a foreign investor, destroys confidence in the Philippine banking system as a whole. At this point, we am feeling that our only recourse is to go on a public letter campaign, warning about the dangers of using a Philippine bank, but I would not like to impugn the reputation of the Philippines as a whole.

When we discovered the theft, we hired attorneys to review the evidence and tried to work through the legal system. Their advice to us was to give the management a chance to present their side. We followed the advice of our attorneys to the letter, which included giving the employees 30 days to answer a list of written questions.

What we uncovered after coming to the Philippines, is that checks were made out to "SSS or Cash" and other government agencies, like "BIR or Cash", Instead of making SSS employee benefit payments, the same ex-employees who wrote these checks, cashed these same checks, and MetroBank allowed them to do this. In addition, MetroBank allowed these employees to withdraw money out of our foundation account and savings account. One explanation these employees gave for making checks out to cash, was that they needed to get the cash to pay bribes. Also, an illegal attivity.

Not paying the SSS is a criminal offense, never mind the admission of giving bribes to government employees, but instead of being criminally prosecuted, it is the owner of the company (our relative) who is now liable for not making SSS payments and the employees who worked hard for the company do not have their SSS company contributions.

The company attorney decided that since, money was being stolen left and right, and after hearing managements explanations, we decided these trusted employees should be dismissed, because these same employees were in full control of all operations within the company, including control of all company funds and bank accounts. If this is not a good enough reason for dismissal, then I do not know what is?
As a consequence these dismissed employees filed a case with the NRLC for illegal dismissal against both the company and me personally, arguing I was a dummy owner, even though I have never received a single centavos from this company, even as an investor. The primary reason for including me was to extort money out of me, not because I had anything to do with their dismissal. My good intentions as an investor has been totally turned upside down. And they are making every effort to divert attention from the facts of the case, eg the theft of company money, to totally unrelated issues.

The worst is yet to come
The company tried to have criminal charges filed against these ex employees, but this was dismissed by the local fiscal, and rumors persist that it was NOT dismissed based on the merits of our case, but because of influence and corruption in the local prosecutors office. The head prosecutor (now retired) told me personally he dismissed the case not because of its merit, but because he had a close relationship with the mother of one of the ex-employees who was dismissed. This of course is only verbal, without witnesses.

Within 30 days of the ruling by the local fiscal, the NRLC arbiter here in Baguio City, ruled in favor of the employees, even though I am told that loss of confidence in the Management is a valid reason to dismiss and to require criminal charges be filed against the ex-employees would be a very high standard to meet for any company. The procedures management followed clearly were against both company policy and Philippine law. Again, rumors persist that the decision of the Arbitator was based on influence and promises of money from the ex-employees.

We filed an appeal with the main NRLC office in Manila and lost. I have no knowledge of any wrong doing by the NRLC metro manila office, but rather, I believe it resulted from a lack of effort in fully evaluating all aspects of our case. As a consequence, we decided to file another appeal and we changed attorneys from Baguio City to Manila. Our new attorney needed more time and requested a 30 day extension to file our appeal.

In the mean time, the arbiter (Vito Bose, Baguio City) scheduled a Preliminary Execution Conference. Neither we or our new attorney could attend the pre-conference on the scheduled day, but we had provided a copy of our notice to extend the date to file our appeal to the attorney Complatents.
More than a week after the date for the Preliminary Execution Conference, we received a notice from Arbiter Vito Bose, that within 2 days of the pre-conference which was dated November 26, 2007, he had already issued an Order to immediately distribute the bond money (P449,689.50) to the ex-employees. In addition, he tripled their award which stated that more than P954,752.60 balance was due. All this was done without any explanation or prior notification. This, in my view, amounts to legalized extortion.

I am told, that the proper procedure is to conduct at least 3 hearings before the bond money is distributed. It is rumored that the Arbiter is badly in need of money, and therefore rushed his order to distribute the bond money.

Do you think this is fair?
Can you help us?