PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte drew flak on social media following his comments regarding the Kapa Community Ministry International, Inc. (Kapa).
During an interview in Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's television program Give Us This Day, aired on Saturday, June 8, Duterte described Kapa as a "continuing crime" and a pyramiding scheme.
The President ordered an investigation and closure of Kapa and other investment schemes.
"That is why NBI (National Bureau of Investigation)... sirahan mo na sila... upon my orders," Duterte said.
Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc., mentioned Kapa following their discussion on the anomaly in PhilHealth.
When news broke out in major media outfits a lot of supporters expressed frustration to the President, Pastor Quiboloy, and the media outfits. Many threatened to stop supporting the President and others called Quiboloy names.
The media were accused of fake news saying that the interview was aired in 2017, they have screenshots that seeks to discredit the media but cannot provide a link. The media based their stories and reports on what the president said validated by two official sources -- there is the full transcript from the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and a video of the full interview on the Youtube channel of Pastor Quiboloy. The transcript was posted on June 8 and can be downloaded from the PCOO website while the video was streamed live on the same date. Hence, the reports released by the media are validated and true.
Clearly, what the president has said may have hurt many individuals who have "donated" money to Kapa and benefited from it. We will not discount the stories that there are those who have also benefited from it.
However, investors of Kapa and other fast money or investment schemes have to understand that these firms are illegal in the eyes of the law. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reiterated why these firms are illegal and violating the law. Among these violations include selling securities without a registration filed with and approved by SEC, which is in violation of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code.
Supporters of these kind of schemes claim that those who enter in these schemes are entering a risk. One of those risks is these firms operating in violation of laws that cover investment firms. They may call it donation or whatever terms they use but in the eyes of the law they are violators unless they have the proper documents to deal with securities.
Since they may be in violation of the law, one day the government will act on these and shut these down; rega,dless if these schemes have helped you or not. It is the reality you have to face.
If these investment schemes want to continue to operate, they have to legalize their operations. Not only having a business permit but if they are dealing with securities, then they will have to also follow the standards set by SEC and by the law that governs them.