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PEP COALITION BACKED BY SEN. ROXAS AGAINST PRE-NEED COMPANIES? The "Unang Hirit" Channel 7 Wednesday appearance of Philip Piccio, the leader of a group calling itself "PEP Coalition," was preceded by a frenzy of text messages sent to officials and plan holders of Phil Asia Care Plans, Inc. a day before, warning that Piccio will touch, although indirectly, about the Phil Asia problem.

Included in the flurry of day-long and night-long text messages is a warning that Piccio is working with Sen. Mar Roxas and a law firm hired by Roxas which, Piccio claimed in the interview with broadcaster Arnold Clavio, will also seek the disbarment of Phil Asia's lawyer---which means me, even if the pepped head did not say so!

Indeed, Piccio got interviewed by Clavio and, true enough, Piccio talked about a pre-need company whose owners will be sued by ousted and dismissed officials of Phil Asia who have since joined PEP Coalition.

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WHAT IS THE AGENDA OF ROXAS FOR PRE-NEED COMPANIES? Is it true that Sen. Roxas is helping the ousted and dismissed Phil Asia officials to stop the company from seeking ways and means to fulfill its obligations to pay the benefits of its plan holders despite the grave and insurmountable problems it is facing?

There is nothing wrong, of course, if Roxas will want to assist those who are seeking his help, but can he explain why he would want to stop Phil Asia---and its lawyer, me---in finding efforts to continue serving its plan holders, against all odds?

Will Roxas, a contender for the presidency in 2010, also explain why, instead of finding ways to help pre-need plan holders at the very least (if he does not find it in himself to help the pre-need companies likewise), he has been trying his best to keep pre-need companies dead and therefore unable to help the millions who took out plans from them?

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WHY IS ROXAS INTERESTED IN THE COLLAPSE OF THE PRE-NEED INDUSTRY? If I am to believe the claims of lawyer Perfecto Yasay Jr., the former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and lawyer Tomas C. Toledo, the former revenue deputy commissioner, the pre-need business functioned smoothly and was able to meet the needs of plan holders during the time of President Diosdado Macapagal, all the way up to the time of President Estrada.

The two have been one in saying, in previous interviews of mine with them, that it was only when Roxas, as Trade Secretary, commissioned a study assailing the pre-need industry that the industry collapsed.