NOBODY knows for sure how much money Speaker Prospero Nograles lost when he invested in at least one of the 12 banks under the collapsed Legacy Group of Companies.
One thing is certain: Nograles had admitted he lost money in Legacy.
Whether the Speaker was victim first and last is a matter for deeper investigation. News reports on the hearings established clearly though that Karlo Alexi Nograles, his son and chief of staff at the House of Representatives, had entered his appearance as a lawyer of the Legacy-controlled rural bank.
Karlo Alexi recently won as congressman of the first district of Davao City and will take the seat to be vacated by his father in the 15th Congress next month.
A lawyer like his father, Karlo Alexi was “confirmed” by the rural bank’s board of directors as their lawyer, according to the minutes of the July 27, 2007 meeting of the board. Karlo took on the job with an acceptance fee of P50,000.
Also last year, Ricardo Tan claimed that in 2005, when he was still president of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), then House Majority Leader Nograles had asked him to go slow on Legacy because de los Angeles allegedly helped Noli de Castro in the 2004 vice presidential race.
In March 2009, the House approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 5911 principally authored by the Speaker. The measure became Republic Act 9576 after it was signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on April 29, 2009.