Kapa members hope to recover investments as Duterte insists on closure

After President Rodrigo Duterte stood by his order to have the alleged "pyramid scam" shut down, investors who poured resources into the Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. (Kapa) waited outside the closed doors of the organization's Alabel, Sarangani headquarters in the hopes of getting their  "donations" back.

"Nagbenta na ng bahay, lupa, at saka mga motor, ihulog namin. Ang gusto lang namin, maibalik lang ang kapital kahit wala na pong interes," a Kapa member said on John Consulta's Friday report on GMA 7 news program "24 Oras."

A day earlier, Duterte insisted that the company's operations were fraudulent, and these had to be stopped immediately.

"Huwag kayo diyan, because ang Kapa ay isang continuing crime, hanggang ngayon, sige pa rin sila sa iba nilang mga branches," Duterte said during a speech in General Santos City on Thursday.

"At sinabi ko sa NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) at pulis, hulihin ninyo kasi ang estafa sa ating batas na ginagawa ng Congress, large scale estafa is non-bailable, hindi ka na makakapiyansa," the President added.

Boyet Pineza, chief of the NBI Sarangani District Office, said Kapa members could file formal complaints against the organization.

"Sa lahat ng willing magreklamo, pumunta lamang sa aming opisina o kahit saang banda sila. Ang importante ay makapag-lodge sila ng kanilang formal complaint," Pineza said.

Kapa members reportedly received monthly returns of 30 percent from their “donations,” which they called “love gifts.”

In General Santos, this has reportedly led poultry, mining, rice farming, and gas station workers to abandon their jobs.

"A lot of poultry (businesses) exist here, some as many as 100,000 heads. These are very big [poultry farms] and there is no way they can earn that much. Heavy equipment? I am in the construction business, we don't take that much," Manuel Fortunato Yapchockun, the former president of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce, said.

Yapchockun also expressed concern over the effects the religious organization had on local commerce.

"This is the first time that religion has been used to raise money. 'This is not an investment, this is a donation'. 'This is not an interest, this is a blessing,'" Yapchockun said. "Sino ang hindi nabayaran? Three years na ang Kapa dito sa amin, then it started growing to Visayas and Luzon.

"I think its the people in Visayas and Luzon who are going to be left holding the bag." — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News