A “KUMPADRE” called to correct a statement in my column on the EEI Corp. Romualdez stocks buyout. The statement was about the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) being the government agency tasked with overseeing the affairs of the stocks sector. Indeed, as I was typing that portion of the story, I felt I had in mind the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but that in the rush intrinsic to writing, what my mind was aware of as the correct entity SEC came out as PSE as my fingers typed it. And that was how the Philippine Stock Exchange got mixed up with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mea culpa.
Kumpadre’s call turns out now as the erratum that necessarily gets amplified into a full-blown part two of the subject matter.
“Anyway, we all know, wherever Martin Romualdez goes, it stinks,” said my kumpadre.
For a refresher, here is a summation of what we illustrated the first time out. Romualdez invests P1.2 billion for 20 percent of EEI’s common shares. Just months later, he demands a buyout for those shares at P3.75 billion and EEI grants the demand. In just eight months, Romualdez gains a whopping profit of P2.55 billion.
Some hard sleuthing appears to unravel machinations that came into play in the entire stocks charade.
A businessman by nature, Romualdez can be presumed to have the hard cash for the 20 percent of EEI’s common shares. In fact, that can be just chicken feed money by street lingo reckoning.
What could be gargantuan is the intent behind the scheme.
Why buy that huge amount of stocks in an outfit that is neck-deep in debt?
Unless one is pretty sure that he can make things work so that the investment generates desired profit.
Oh, well. You are not a presidential first cousin for nothing. And imagine the awesome power and influence of a House speaker.
For one thing, that was a time for making the most out of the possibilities of the flood control mess, then still largely under wraps.
With those possibilities, one’s investment in the falling Yuchengco enterprise becomes a truly profitable venture.
You invest P1.2 billion in a construction company for which you could work out flood control projects, the potential proceeds are tremendous.
But then again, there are no sure formulas for telling what’s to come about perfectly. Something must have gone wrong somewhere such that a P1.2-billion investment in EEI must be withdrawn.
That’s when a brilliant idea flashes.
Pag-IBIG Fund
Created in 1978 by Presidential Decree 1530, the Pag-IBIG Fund, which operates as a provident fund, is mandated to provide national savings programs and affordable shelter financing for Filipino workers.
Under existing laws, Pag-IBIG Fund is allowed to make “wise investments.”
What then if the agency, say, invests P6 billion in EEI?
That can be done; P5 billion to come from the agency’s “investible funds” and P1 billion from Pag-IBIG employees’ provident funds. All together, those two funds could comprise the amount of EEI’s 60 million preferred “D” shares.
With that Pag-IBIG investment, EEI not only would be able to meet its stockholders’ demand for dividends but also immensely improve its standing in the stock exchange.
When was the time that EEI stocks rose to P3.60? What caused the rise? Now the price of common stocks is down to P2.16 — and dropping. What caused the drop?
A little more sleuthing would reveal the price of EEI stocks skyrocketed after Pag-IBIG bought into 60 million of EEI’s preferred “D” shares amounting to P6 billion.
And it was after that transaction that Romualdez got his demand for a buyout of his shares for P3.75 billion.
How do dots connect in this respect?
Let alone the fact that Romualdez is a first cousin of the president. Bongbong has trillions upon trillions worth of truly national concerns to personally bother about participating in a Pag-IBIG fund scam.
Focus on the tangibles.
Romualdez is a reputed ally of TUCP Party-list Rep. Democrito Mendoza. Who is this guy? He is a cousin of Romualdez’s wife, Yedda Marie Mendoza by maiden name.
But we are talking about the Pag-IBIG Fund. How does Yedda Marie Mendoza relate? As pointed out earlier, she is cousin to Democrito Mendoza, who is a “best friend” of the Pag-IBIG Fund deputy CEO, who formerly served as spokesman for the TUCP Party-list of which Democrito Mendoza is the representative.
Oh, well, a deputy CEO is just a whisper away from a CEO.
And records show that Pag-IBIG President and Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta signed the deal embarking on the P6-billion investment by Pag-IBIG in the EEI Corp. without the approval of the agency’s board of directors.
And that’s where anomalies must figure. While no law appears to prohibit the investment, it nonetheless must conform to the standard operating procedure of having the investment in EEI approved by the Pag-IBIG board of directors.
There being no such approval, the entire deal must be in question.
The breakdown of the P6-billion investment for the 60 million preferred “D” shares was bought at P100 per share. There being no available price for series “D” as of the present, but with series “B” being traded at a low P95.50, Pag-IBIG series D shares could certainly be priced much lower.
Meaning — and with EEI Corp. on a sustained skid — there is a slim chance that the Pag-IBIG Fund would be able to earn anything for its investment.
Worse, not even recover its investment at least.
Somebody must be held accountable for what now is evidently an anomaly.
Who?
This column can only cite precedents.
Arnel Ignacio, former administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), was dismissed in May 2025 by the president for an allegedly anomalous P1.4-billion land acquisition deal that reportedly bypassed the OWWA board of trustees. A graft complaint against him was filed with the Office of the Ombudsman in July 2025.
Government Service Insurance System President and General Manager Arnulfo Veloso was slapped with a six-month suspension by the Ombudsman over a P1.44-billion investment in Alternergy, a renewable energy firm.
Isn’t President Marcos duty-bound to apply the same criterion to Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Marilene Acosta over the P6-billion investment in EEI?