DAVAO ORIENTAL, Philippines – As President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. prepares to mark the first of his six-year office term, several groups claiming affiliation with his family that emerged in the Davao Region in 2022, have continued offering financial assistance, or ayuda, to impoverished families in exchange for membership fees. 

They share one thing in common: they have capitalized on disinformation about the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth to rip people off.

This comes despite a police warning against scams exploiting the so-called Marcos wealth.

Alongside the three groups previously identified by Rappler as responsible for the Marcos wealth scam in the Davao Region, at least two more have surfaced, using the same template.

The groups’ organizers present themselves as authorized representatives of the Marcos family, pledging to distribute the confiscated ill-gotten wealth, which amounts to billions of dollars, in exchange for membership fees ranging from P50 to P1,500.

Many recruits, particularly in rural communities with high illiteracy rates, were enticed with promises of returns ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 each, contingent on their membership and associated fees.

Two other organizations – Infinity and Deuterium – have recently emerged, apart from the United BBM Loyalist International, Maharlika, and JTS-JE groups.

Based on interviews with their members in Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte provinces, Infinity and Deuterium were established by retired government nurses who also sell herbal products.

Similar to the other groups, Infinity and Deuterium do not provide official receipts to members who make membership fee payments.

Out of the five groups, only JTS-JE has utilized the social media platform YouTube to recruit members.

JTS-JE utilizes YouTube as a social media platform to provide instructions to recruits regarding form completion and submission requirements for eligibility to receive benefits.

While presenting itself on social media as a foundation with an office in Davao City, there are indications that JTS-JE’s operations extend beyond the Davao region, including General Santos in the Soccsksargen region.

Where is the money?

Beverly Manaytayan, a 52-year-old farmer from Mati City, said she tried to ask about the status of the promised financial assistance through JTS-JE’s YouTube channel.

“I did inquire with the JTS-JE if it is a true charity arm of the Marcos family and whether we could still receive the promised financial assistance but I did not get any response from them,” Manaytayan told Rappler in an interview.

Another group, the United BBM Loyalist International, has issued identification cards to its members.

Nevertheless, thus far, members of these groups have not received any financial assistance as promised by the five groups.

Despite their financial hardships, many recruits were driven to join these groups and pay the fees, starting even before the 2022 elections, due to the widespread perception that then-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was the sure winner.

They were assured that their membership and support for Marcos’ presidential campaign would yield benefits from the family’s ill-gotten wealth, seized by the government, once the family regained power.

Many of those recruited are recipients of the government’s poverty alleviation program, known as the 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

The program, launched by the government in 2007, offers conditional cash transfers to the poorest households, aiming to alleviate poverty, promote education and health, and provide social protection to marginalized families. The 4Ps represent a strategic effort to combat poverty and improve the lives of disadvantaged households.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Davao region had a food poverty rate of 47 per 1,000 families in 2021.

The PSA’s data showed that approximately 379,000 individuals in the region struggled to earn enough income to meet their basic food needs. This economic vulnerability makes the impoverished communities in the region susceptible to investment schemes promising significant returns.

During the first semester of 2021, Davao Occidental recorded the highest poverty incidence in the region, standing at 40.1%. The figure translates to roughly 137,400 individuals living in poverty. 

Davao Oriental and Davao de Oro followed closely behind, with poverty incidences of 32.7% or around 199,000 individuals, and 27.9% or approximately 218,100 people, respectively. Davao del Sur registered a poverty incidence of 18.1%, indicating that approximately 128,000 people were living below the poverty threshold in the province. 

Another province, Davao del Norte, had a poverty incidence of 17.9%, representing around 190,500 individuals suffering from poverty.

Among the areas within the region, Davao City showed the lowest poverty incidence at 8.9%, indicating that approximately 166,700 residents were considered poor during the same period.

Milagros Canete, a 62-year-old seafood vendor in the coastal village of Barangay Central in Mati, the capital city of Davao Oriental province, said: “I believe that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is a kind-hearted individual, regardless of what others may say. As you can see, he refrained from engaging in verbal confrontations with fellow candidates during last year’s electoral campaign because he is a man of peace. Let us not forget that unity was his slogan. I genuinely believe that he will share his family’s vast wealth with impoverished families in the country.”

Membership fees

Recruits in Mati City and the town of Santo Tomas in nearby Davao del Norte province confirmed to Rappler that they paid membership fees after being promised financial assistance of as much as P150,000 from the Marcos family.

Andath Cruz, a 37-year-old banana plantation worker in Tagum City, said Infinity collected P50 each from people in the village of Kinamon in Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte.

“Many people were encouraged to join the group because the organizers promised a monthly support of P20,000 from the Marcos family if we paid the membership fees,” Cruz said.

She said village officials were involved in the recruitment, and even openly urged people to join Infinity during gatherings.

Cruz said the recruits, mostly rural farmers, did not question the group’s claims and paid the membership fees. None of them were given official receipts.

The same thing took place in Mati City’s coastal villages of Dahican, Mamali, and Macambol where residents, many of whom are members of the indigenous peoples’ groups Mandaya and Calagan, shelled out money for the membership fees.

“The recruitments intensified starting in January 2022 up to the 2022 presidential election. One recruiter even rushed us to submit photos, including family portraits, for our application papers. They cost us P100 each. We were told there was a deadline,” said a 53-year-old mother of five, who spoke to Rappler on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Recruiters asked residents to fill out personal information forms that solicited essential details, including annual income, employment status, mobile phone numbers, photocopies of identification cards issued by the PSA, and bank account information.

In some villages of Mati City, recruits were charged P1,000 each to register as members of Maharlika and the United BBM Loyalist International.

“It is prevalent here,” said Neelan Luciano, a village councilor from Barangay Sentral, Mati City, referring to the group Maharlika.

Ready for distribution?

A leader from JTS-JE in Mati City told Rappler on May 16 that the “Marcos funds” promised to more than 30,000 members throughout the Davao Region, had been prepared for distribution this August.

“We have assured our members that the funds received from the Marcos family are secure and intact. Currently, the money is deposited at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP),” he claimed. The claim about the deposits could not be independently verified as of this posting. 

The JTS-JE leader, a local government worker who requested anonymity, said the amount of assistance would vary based on the economic status of each member.

“For individuals living in extreme poverty, it is likely they will receive P500,000 from our organization. However, we also have members who hold regular government positions, such as public school teachers and various professionals. It is important to emphasize that we are not engaged in fraudulent activities. Our primary objective is to assist fellow Filipinos. The funds provided by the Marcos family are intended for all Filipinos,” he said.

He said they were in the process of devising methods to ensure a smooth distribution of the funds, “considering the substantial amount involved” and security concerns. 

He claimed that they had to collect membership fees so the group could shoulder “processing costs.” 

Confirmation

Davao Oriental police director Colonel Francis Donald Brillante said Brigadier General Benjamin Silo Jr., the former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the Davao Region, ordered a region-wide investigation in response to reports about the proliferation of groups using the Marcoses’ wealth to scam people as early as December 15, 2021. 

Lieutenant Colonel Eudisan Gultiano, the spokesperson of the PNP in the Davao region, informed Rappler on May 16 that several people were already charged in court in connection with the Marcos wealth scam.

“Those involved in the scam have already been slapped with charges in the courts,” Gultiano said.

But when pressed for more details, Gultiano said she would first check the records of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

Rappler has repeatedly reached out to the CIDG in the Davao region to ask for details about the supposed cases it filed against people and groups involved in the investment schemes, but the office has been uncooperative.

Newly assumed CIDG-Davao Oriental chief Major Nelson Hernandez told Rappler on June 21 that he has yet to check their records to see if anyone or any group in the province was already charged in court in connection with the various investment schemes.

In an earlier interview, PNP-Davao Oriental spokesman Major Isidro Capili said, “We have already validated the information. We have the same information on the groups behind the scam, and we are taking appropriate action.”

Capili also validated Rappler’s list of various groups involved in the alleged investment scams.

It’s “almost the same with our list,” Capili said without elaborating further.

He said law enforcers have continued to monitor the activities of the groups involved in the investment schemes, and added that the police “will file appropriate charges against them in due time.”

NPA ties?

Capili linked the scammers to organizations suspected of allegedly serving as fronts of the New People’s Army (NPA) “who aim to incite the people, especially the poor communities, to rise against the government.”

“These leftist groups are exploiting the Marcos wealth issue to mislead and agitate the people against the government. They know that by raising the Marcos wealth issue, especially regarding the seized ill-gotten wealth, they can effectively use it as a tool for their propaganda against the government,” Capili said.

Mati City police chief Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Gregore said the alleged Marcos wealth scammers have been operating in the city, including a new group called BBM Solid 2022 Movements, which targeted residents, particularly those living in far-flung and disadvantaged areas.

“This group has been operating in Mati City even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gregore said.

He said the last time the Mati police monitored the group’s activities was in January. 

“They attempted to enter remote barangays in Mati City but were barred by village officials who suspected that they were affiliated with communist rebels who aim to regain support in the hinterland villages,” Gregore told Rappler on May 17.

Still hoping

Almost a year into the Marcos family’s return to power, and despite police warnings about the Marcos wealth scams, none of the recruits have received the promised aid, but many of those in rural communities have remained hopeful about receiving shares of the confiscated ill-gotten wealth. 

Capistrano Jose Tawaning, a 51-year-old Mandaya farmer in an outlying village in Mati, recalled attending meetings with Filipino-speaking organizers in January 2022, where recruits were promised up to P500,000 each.

The promise made was that they would start receiving their shares in July 2022, once Marcos assumed the presidency.

Mercedita Tagalandig, a herbal medicine vendor, said she joined one of the groups simply because many of her neighbors did, and she did not want to be left out. Despite her financial need at the time, she paid a P500-membership fee.

When she joined, Marcos was already leading in the presidential race, and she anticipated financial benefits from his election success afterward as promised. 

In the 2022 elections, Marcos emerged victorious with a substantial lead in Davao Oriental, securing 233,313 votes. His nearest rival in the province was Manny Pacquiao, a former senator and renowned Filipino boxing icon, who received a mere 49,017 votes.

The support for Marcos in the province was overwhelming. The combined votes for Pacquiao and four other presidential candidates were a mere 74,813, representing only 32% of Marcos’ total vote count.

Tagalandig said the promised financial benefits was her and many others’ motivation for actively campaigning for Marcos during the 2022 election period.

Montreal John Humugaway, a 26-year-old construction worker and a father of six, declared, “President Marcos still has five more years in office. He has enough time to distribute his family’s wealth which amounts to billions of dollars.” – Rappler.com

Ferdinand Zuasola is an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow.