By CONG B. CORRALES,
Associate Editor, and
NITZ ARANCON,
Correspondent
A PROMOTIONAL video suggests that former Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (Oro Chamber) president Reuben Vegafria and one of his children went beyond being mere “investors” of Phoenix EA Holdings International Inc..
Uploaded on YouTube this June 17 by one JJ Matulac, the three-minute video, titled “Phoenix EA Holdings,” has since had 379 views but no comments have been posted as of this writing.
The video starts with an ominous droning sound and then the words “From zero funding, 30+ fully paid cars were released during the first two weeks of doing business” are flashed.
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The Phoenix EA Holdings video’s onscreen narrator has been identified as Kevin Vegafria, a son of the former Oro Chamber president.
The younger Vegafria extolled the humble roots of the company in the video. Throughout the video, he repeatedly used the pronoun “We” in reference to Phoenix EA Holdings International Inc..
At one minute and four seconds into the video, the older Vegafria is seen onscreen smiling and sitting down in what appeared to be a meeting inside a boardroom with Ailyn Hope Matulac at the head of the table and several others, including a man who looks like a foreigner.
This, while Kevin proudly narrates in the background: “A vision so powerful it shook the whole world.”
Matulac, identified as the president and chief executive officer of Phoenix EA Holdings International, was arrested with a group that included former vice mayor Caesar Ian Acenas in Mandaue City last week in connection with an alleged “double-your-money” investment scam.
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The younger Vegafria continues: “With the help and support of her peers, they were able to turn that vision into reality.”
He then makes this unsupported claim: “We, Blitz Unlimited, has
accumulated over P2 billion worth of sales and assets in a span of two months.”
He also claimed that the firm has been expanding from Davao to the US and Europe.
At two minutes and 18 seconds into the video, an infographic shows deposits in dollars and Euros without a clear explanation about what it was all about.
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In the same video, the company claims to be operating in “health and wellness, banking and finance, foundations, angel funding, real estate, entertainment industry, labor force and agencies, education, manufacturing, tourism, hospitality, and information technology.”
At two minutes and 54 seconds, the younger Vegafria introduces Matulac as the driving force behind the success of “Phoenix Blitz Unlimited.”
Securities and Exchange Commission regional director Renato Egypto said his office would look into the promotional video of Phoenix EA Holdings International Inc..
“Ato kining ipa-investigate kun unsa’y relasyon ining Phoenix ug Blitz,” said Egypto, adding that the Commission would also try to find out the extent of the involvement of people seen in the video with Matulac.
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On Friday, the elder Vegafria claimed to have been victimized by Blitz Unlimited, a firm which he said was renamed Phoenix EA Holdings International Inc. after people started complaining about not seeing returns of investment.
Vegafria, who presently sits as a member of the board of trustees of the Oro Chamber, also claimed to have filed a complaint for syndicated estafa against Matulac’s group. He declined to say exactly how much he invested into Blitz-Phoenix.
According to Vegafria, Matulac and her husband were known to him. He said the couple studied at Xavier University.
He said he and Matulac even shared interests in selling the herbal products of another company called MCI Elite.
He said Matulac used to work for MCI Elite, and then she left it to start Blitz Unlimited, subsequently renamed Phoenix EA Holdings International Inc..
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Vegafria said, “Phoenix-Blitz is one that was heavily involved in scam-like activities in Davao. With so many victims in Davao, Tagum, Gensan, CDO, Surigao, Bukidnon and even Luzon running after them, they transferred their activities to Cebu using their newly created holdings company – Phoenix EA Holdings International with no business permit to operate although SEC-registered.”
He added: “Basa na man kayo ang Forex Blitz sa Davao, mao nang mibalhin sila sa Cebu, ug ilang gigamit ang ilang bag-ong company nga Phoenix Holdings.”
Vegafria said he met with Matulac on several occasions. He said that in their most recent meeting, he asked Matulac’s group to pay up.
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He strongly denied having anything to do in luring people to invest into Matulac’s group or with the operations of the company.
Vegafria said of the YouTube video upload: “Kon pinaka-latest man gani kana nga picture, basin maona kana ang panahon saang akong pag paningil saila (Matulac) sa interest saakong na-invest sailang company.”
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