SEC shutters three Mindanao organizations soliciting ‘donations’

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MANILA, Philippines — Three supposed religious organizations based in Mindanao have been slapped with a cease and desist order by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after they were found to have been allegedly soliciting investments in the guise of donations from the public.

Based on the SEC commission en banc’s order dated May 21 that was made public last Friday, Hasmadai Foundation Inc., Humanitarian and Spiritual Mission Apostulates of Davao and Asia Inc., and Humanitarian Institute of Technology Corp. were told to stop offering securities through “charity mission support pledge forms.”

The provincial government of Agusan del Sur and the SEC Butuan extension office found that the groups led by Dante Encarnacion Tabusares enticed local and foreign donors to donate a certain amount that would entitle them to a monthly “missionary allowance.”

The allowance is equivalent to 27 percent to 34 percent of their donation, with some pledging as much as P20,000

For example, a pledge of P5,000 will entitle a donor to receive a monthly allowance of P1,850, minus a “spiritual medical assistance” fee of P500, therefore netting P1,350.

Tabusares admitted to accepting donations and being a former member of another religious corporation whose certificate of registration was previously revoked over investment fraud, the SEC said.

Securities Regulation Code

The SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) pointed out that the groups’ investment schemes were “essentially an offer/sale of unregistered securities in the form of investment contracts to the public,” thus violating the Securities Regulation Code.

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According to the corporate watchdog, the Sangguniang Bayan of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur province conducted a committee hearing on the registration status of the Hasmadai groups in April.

While Humanitarian and Spiritual Mission Apostulates of Davao and Asia Inc. was previously issued a certificate of incorporation, the EIPD learned that the other groups were not registered as corporations.

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At the same time, they did not have authority to conduct national fund campaigns, the SEC added, as they were not issued permits by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

As a result, the SEC ordered the groups, as well as their officers and other affiliated individuals, to “immediately cease and desist from engaging in activities of offering for sale of securities” in the form of mission support pledges and other similar activities.

They were likewise ordered to stop any online campaign related to the investment scheme. —MEG J. ADONIS INQ