Ending the Greed

by: amiel aguilar cabanlig

How could we have become so greedy during the Economic Boom times?

Instead of letting the Gucci Gang profit from the poverty of others, hyping their decadence and “acquired prosperity?” Instead, we should have fixed this flawed system from the very beginning.

Tim Yap's laissez fair mantra was taken to heart by the “generation-ME” yuppies while the poor were left to fend for themselves against the twisted economic structures promulgated by the pages of “lifestyle.” Classism, materialism and irresponsible decadence were what we chose to permeate the media instead of more noble subject matter like camaraderie, genuine charity and temperance.

Now, with the global financial crisis in full swing, times have definitely changed.

What we need more than ever is to reevaluate our attitudes in the media and how we express our concern for our fellow men. It is imperative that we ensure that the greedy and unscrupulous no longer exploit those who struggle for without the poor, a crisis such as this would never come to pass. Whether poor in the sense of material things or those lacking proper moral transcendence, today is is clear that we must make up for what society has been lacking all the time. No more people need slip into the cracks of poverty. We can all strive and thrive together in an effort to pull our nation out of its state of shambles.

We must all do our part and fight for equity for all and eradicating the selfishness and self-promoting that was one the fad of the so-called “IN-crowd.”

The U N’s representative in charge of eradicating poverty has said that the avaricious quest of MAMON (gold over goodness) by the so called “ME” generation” has triggered an economic crisis that would definitely delay the anti-poverty targets in the poorest countries like the Philippines. The insatiable thirst for money cannot be better illustrated than through the recent example of Bernard Madoff’s.

Now, some of you may have heard his name but still ask - Who is Bernard Madoff?

A year ago, this name would have raised standing appreciation for any common “tao” (the Ex-chairman of NASDAQ, esteemed member of SEC, founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, a firm which is outperforming market in terms of steady juicy return to investor in this drowning economy).

Well dearies, not any more – his austere reputation has been debunked for the crook that he really is.

A crook of epic proportions!

A master of the PONZI scheme, Madoff never disclosed his investment strategy to the public media nor did he explain his motives in investor reporting. He was illusive to regulators with very minimal disclosure and managed to keep up a spotless reputation.

"The PONZI Scheme" is a fraudulent investment strategy where an existing investor is paid high short term returns with the principals flowing from other new investors. In order to sustain the scheme, there has to have steady flow of investment to the fund, thus more new investors. (This must be ringing bells in this week’s Congressional hearing on retirement plans!)

The damage that Madoff caused stretched around the globe affecting individuals, banks and charities alike, sucking them dry of billions of dollars!

Madoff's stature remained intact for many years and no one was any the wiser to the swindling activities he engaged in since his stream of investors were not mass-market individuals. On the other hand, his victims consisted of an exclusive club of luminaries lured in by Madoff's mesmerizing rapport and personal relations. (Can you sense the similarities of Madoff's schemes to the way VVVIP clubs practice “exclusivity” here in Manila?)

Yes, Madoff cheated people of billions of dollars... but in spite of his history-making debaucle, Bernard Madoff is just another “Gucci Gang-er” but on a much larger scale!

Just this Sunday (February 8), an equally controversial character again came out in Tim Yap’s column in the Philippine Star.

The Yapster really loves dubious characters noh?

Another Gucci Gang “victim,” Jason Lowen, claims: “I will fight to make sure that David Nugent no longer defrauds the Philippines or the citizens of the United States or Asia-Pacific. I can finally prove Nugent was not a citizen from 2001-2003, and that Manuel V. Pangilinan had to know this...”

Jason Lowen has been compared to an Australian blogger Brian Gorrell who also fell victim to the wiles of Manila's “social elite.”

But as David Nugent allegedly pointed out via text message last October 2008: “Yes just recently, the Philippine elite used me for their means and that he was complicit with a certain ABS-CBN executive in helping craft notes, and it is not former ABS-CBN executive Randolph Estrellado, whom told ABS-CBN that they were not allowed to report on the story, as it would make him look like a fool as former Chief Financial Officer for ABS-CBN.”

Apparently MVP never did a basic background check on his top deputy Nugent. According to Lowen: "a simple background check by First Pacific/Metro Pacific/PLDT would have shown that Nugent did not graduate from an American University as claimed in his own corporate biography in PSE documents in 2004 and 2007, was born in 1970 and not 1972, and has a history of never paying his debts, leaving over US$34,000 in defaulted guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education and other various creditors and collection agencies, not paying Pacific Gas & Electric to not paying his Sprint PCS bill to committing check fraud. "

If that wasn't enough, Nugent is rumored to be a substance abuser, according to certain reports. Nugent is also known to be a friend of Betty Sy of SM Investments who was recently featured in the lifestyle pages of Philippine Star . (Gucci Gang, here we go again!)
Scandals, lies and deception... when will the story end? From the Gucci Gang to Madoff or Nugent to the next generation of swindlers extraordinaire... society as a whole must learn from these terrible mistakes before it's too late!

Mahatma Gandhi summed it up best:

“This is the moment to take a more altruistic world view. The world has enough for people’s needs, but not enough for people’s greed.”