THE wife and son of a former Land Bank of the Philippines (landbank) executive have tearfully appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte for the release of his retirement benefits which has allegedly been withheld since 2017.
Caroline Filomeno and Abraham Filomeno, who has been tagged as a “walking science encyclopedia” and a bemedalled Grade 8 student, sought the assistance of PDuterte for the settlement of Aldo Filomeno’s at least P22 million claim.
They also sought the help of Congressmen Michael Defensor, Rodante Marcoleta, Crispin Remulla, and Dahlia Loyola. “We know the President and congressmen have good hearts. We seek their help in this hour of great need,” they said.
They said that LandBank allegedly ignored the August 8, 2018 endorsement of the Office of the President’s director for Public Concern Joaquin Romeo Santiago or the Special Incentive Program to settle the full claims of Aldo, project development officer/program manager.
They also appealed to President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Cecilia Borromeo to act on Aldo’s four additional letter-requests on his benefits.
Caroline enumerated her husband’s great contribution to the bank and country:
— Aldo was a consistent “Outstanding Employee” and considered as one of the best investment bankers and economists in the Asia Pacific.
— He participated actively in the Asian Development Bank open forum for poverty alleviation: a. 1. Delegate, 2011 Association of Development Finance Institutions in Asia and the Pacific Study Tour on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Financing held in Manila; b. 2. Delegate, 2013 The Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association Regional Training Course on Agricultural Value Chain held in Bangkok, Thailand; c. 3. Account Officer/Program Manager of diversified agri products, including crops and livestock. The food industry is estimated at P485 billion; d. 4. Author of a novel, “Test of Time” (Love Amidst the Raging Typhoon’s Fury), is a masterpiece e. about climate change mitigation, intertwined with love story, suspense, drama and action. The 200-page novel, was approved by a former landbank official, to be used to promote the P11 billion KAWAYAN program. Aldo is the only employee in landbank’s history, who has created this magnum opus, intended to attract investors in international and national markets. This will, in turn, make the Philippines a P68 trillion economic miracle; f. 5. Organizing Committee chairperson, 1998 Centennial Duel, of a 12-game, one-on-one match between grandmasters Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio. Without cost by the bank, it was witnessed by one of the world’s greatest athletes, Russian world champion Anatoly Karpov and officials of the FIDE led by president emeritus Florencio Campomanes and longest serving Greek vice president Georgios Makropoulos.
— Due to massive publicity in international and national tri-media, created by the undersigned for the project, the landbank rose from top 15 banks, to top 6, cornering a trillion pesos in assets. Caroline said her husband had served the government for almost 24 years, with the highest integrity and excellence, worthy of admiration and replication. “It was due to immeasurable work related stress, my better half suffered cardiac arrest and sudden death syndrome (lifeless for more than ten minutes), hypertension, stroke and prostate problem.”
“Philippine athletes who won medals in the Olympics, Asian Games and SEA Games, were given bonuses worth millions. My dad is both a hero sportsman and economic builder. Our family deserved proper government treatment. He is instrumental in shaping my IQ and EQ, to be a better person. We need his retirement benefits, so I can finish my studies and fulfill my ambition to become a marine biologist, molecular chef, musician, short story writer and novelist,” Abraham said.
“My spouse is continuously undergoing rehabilitation and taking expensive maintenance medicines. We suffered much for five years already and ours is like thousand midnights. Mr. President, may we see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Caroline stressed.
Aldo was the youngest freelance reporter at 18 in 1982, covering the Interim Batasang Pambansa, Regular Assembly and the House of Representatives.
