Day: July 2, 2014

ALFM Mutual Funds still at the top in Industry

PRNEWS Leave a comment

ALFM Mutual Funds keeps it pace despite the highly competitive and increasingly difficult financial environment it operates in. With their hard work, they manage to retain as a leader and kept in step with the overall growth of the industry.

With a current 47% market share – more than double the share of its nearest competitor – ALFM Funds have grown a cumulative 241 percent in the last five years, and from 2007 onwards have managed over 40% of the industry’s net assets.

Romeo L. Bernardo, Chairman

ALFM Mutual Funds has six different funds that meet various investment objectives, delivering steady and superior returns relative to their benchmarks from their inception up to 2013, an end-May 2014 report of the investment Company Association of the Philippines (ICAP) showed.

“These superior and consistent investment returns were achieved through a faithful and deliberate adherence to the fundamental principles that form the core of our investment philosophy – long-term focus, value orientation and risk management.”

The company also launch a new and improved ALFM Mutual Funds website, www.alfmutualfunds.com, which allows clients to easily send messages or inquiries direct to its mailboxes so agents could immediately address any concern.

Jose Mari Valmayor, Fund Manager

New features of the website include an interactive Client Sustainability Assessment Test and Portfolio Builder, both designed to help the client make the right investment decisions.

SEC-licensed mutual fund sales agents of BPI Investment Management Inc., BPI Capital Corp. and BPI Securities Corp. distribute ALFM Mutual Fund shares. Citicorp Financial Services and Insurance Brokerage Phils. Inc. also distributes shares of the ALFM Growth Fund and the Philippine Stock Index Fund.

With SC decision on DAP, expect impeachment charges vs Aquino

Ellen Leave a comment

SC decision: reminder to Aquino that good intentions do not necessarily mean right and legal.

SC decision on DAP: reminder to Aquino that good intentions do not necessarily mean right and legal.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling that President Aquino and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad’s baby- the Disbursement Acceleration Program – is unconstitutional, expect impeachment charges against Aquino to be filed soon.

Main Decision
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2014/july2014/209287.pdf

Separate Opinions:

http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2014/july2014/209287_carpio.pdf
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2014/july2014/209287_brion.pdf

Concurring and Dissenting opinion
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2014/july2014/209287_delcastillo.pdf

Separate Concurring Opinion
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2014/july2014/209287
_bernabe.pdf


Concurring Opinion
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/pdf/web/viewer.html?file=/jurisprudence/2014/july2014/209287_leonen.pdf

The progressive groups –Anakbayan and Kilusang Mayo Uno- have hinted on impeachment in their statements hailing the High Court’s decision on DAP.

Anakbayan’s Vencer Crisostomo said, “Aquino and his pork gang should resign now in shame. Calls for him to be removed from office via impeachment or via a people’s uprising is growing and is increasingly justified. Aquino and his pork gang should be ousted.”

KMU’s Elmer Labog said, “The SC ruling could only further fuel calls for the Pork Barrel King’s resignation, if not ouster from office.”

Yesterday, the Supreme Court, voting unanimously (13-0) ruled as unconstitutional “cross border transfers of the savings of the Executive to augment appropriation of other offices outside the Executive; funding of projects, activities and programs that were not covered by any appropriation in the General Appropriations Act; and withdrawal of unobligated allotment from the implementing agencies and the declaration of the withdrawn, unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the GAA.”

The President's trusted one.

The President’s trusted one.

It will be recalled that the DAP came into the public knowledge after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada delivered a privilege speech September last year complaining why Malacanang is zeroing on him and his two colleagues in the opposition – Juan Ponce- Enrile and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

Not knowing about DAP then, Estrada revealed that he and 19 other senators received at P50 million to P100 million in additional lump-sum allocations and linked the huge sums to their votes for the conviction then Chief Justice Renato Corona in the 2012 impeachment trial.

Abad later confirmed the release of P1.107 billion to 20 senators and said that the funds came from the DAP.

It was later found out that there were a number of infrastructure projects in the GAA that were called canceled and the funds were re-aligned to projects submitted by the senators.

Malacanang supporters then twitted that Estrada’s speech was a “dud.” Well, they spoke too soon.

The SC decision has given enemies of the Aquino a potent weapon to attack him and that would be through the filing of impeachment complaints. But the question is, will the impeachment complaint prosper?

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte is said to be in firm control of the Lower House but Malacañang can’t be complacent. They will have to make sure that congressmen won’t succumb to the lure of the enemies of Aquino. Without DAP and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (which has also been declared unconstitutional by the SC), Malacanang would be hard put to match the incentives of those who want to oust Aquino.

This is definitely a blow to Aquino and his “Tuwid na Daan.

This will hurt his ego but it should tell him and his advisers that just because they are in power, they are not infallible. Some humility should do them good.

With SC decision on DAP, expect impeachment charges vs Aquino

Ellen Leave a comment

SC decision: reminder to Aquino that good intentions do not necessarily mean right and legal.

SC decision on DAP: reminder to Aquino that good intentions do not necessarily mean right and legal.

With the Supreme Court’s ruling that President Aquino and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad’s baby- the Disbursement Acceleration Program – is unconstitutional, expect impeachment charges against Aquino to be filed soon.

The progressive groups –Anakbayan and Kilusang Mayo Uno- have hinted on impeachment in their statements hailing the High Court’s decision on DAP.

Anakbayan’s Vencer Crisostomo said, “Aquino and his pork gang should resign now in shame. Calls for him to be removed from office via impeachment or via a people’s uprising is growing and is increasingly justified. Aquino and his pork gang should be ousted.”

KMU’s Elmer Labog said, “The SC ruling could only further fuel calls for the Pork Barrel King’s resignation, if not ouster from office.”

Yesterday, the Supreme Court, voting unanimously (13-0) ruled as unconstitutional “cross border transfers of the savings of the Executive to augment appropriation of other offices outside the Executive; funding of projects, activities and programs that were not covered by any appropriation in the General Appropriations Act; and withdrawal of unobligated allotment from the implementing agencies and the declaration of the withdrawn, unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the GAA.”

The President's trusted one.

The President’s trusted one.

It will be recalled that the DAP came into the public knowledge after Sen. Jinggoy Estrada delivered a privilege speech September last year complaining why Malacanang is zeroing on him and his two colleagues in the opposition – Juan Ponce- Enrile and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

Not knowing about DAP then, Estrada revealed that he and 19 other senators received at P50 million to P100 million in additional lump-sum allocations and linked the huge sums to their votes for the conviction then Chief Justice Renato Corona in the 2012 impeachment trial.

Abad later confirmed the release of P1.107 billion to 20 senators and said that the funds came from the DAP.

It was later found out that there were a number of infrastructure projects in the GAA that were called canceled and the funds were re-aligned to projects submitted by the senators.

Malacanang supporters then twitted that Estrada’s speech was a “dud.” Well, they spoke too soon.

The SC decision has given enemies of the Aquino a potent weapon to attack him and that would be through the filing of impeachment complaints. But the question is, will the impeachment complaint prosper?

House Speaker Sonny Belmonte is said to be in firm control of the Lower House but Malacañang can’t be complacent. They will have to make sure that 191 of the 290 congressmen won’t succumb to the lure of the enemies of Aquino. Without DAP and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (which has also been declared unconstitutional by the SC), Malacanang would be hard put to match the incentives of those who want to oust Aquino.

This is definitely a blow to Aquino and his “Tuwid na Daan.

This will hurt his ego but it should tell him and his advisers that just because they are in power, they are not infallible. Some humility should do them good.