MANILA, Philippines—The Senate investigation of the Legacy Group turned emotional yesterday after three plan holders finally got the chance to confront Celso de los Angeles, the “financial wizard” they blamed for their money that has disappeared.

Widowed street vendor Jovita “Nanay Beth” Calleja, 58; housewife Aurora S. Soriano, 59; and retired office worker Milagros “Aling Mila” Villanueva, 65, all pressed De los Angeles, the Legacy Group founder, on how their money could be returned to them.

The first investor to confront De los Angeles was Calleja, who put in P48,000 in the Legacy Scholarship Pension Plan.

“Do you have any heart for the likes of us who are poor but who worked hard just to invest in this? The money we put in was small—they might be loose change for you—but for us, it’s already a big deal because we worked hard for it,” said Calleja, who still has two children in college.

“When the pension fund was offered, I thought it would help me when the time comes that I won’t be able to work. Now I’ve been a widow for four years. I don’t have work because my arm can’t feel anything after years of cooking,” she added.

Calleja said she was expecting that she would get help from Legacy starting next year but “all of a sudden” the pension fund closed.

Calleja added that she was also able to convince one of her children to invest in an educational plan for her grandchild but they have not been able to recover the money.

De los Angeles replied that there was a “trust fund” available and Calleja only had to make a claim at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“We have filed at the Comelec (Commission on Elections),” Calleja said in her confusion before correcting herself that she had indeed filed a claim in the SEC.

“But I don’t know if we still have hope in recovering our money,” Calleja said.

Soriano said she put in P225,000 in Legacy’s pension plan and another P350,000 at Banco Parañaque, a Legacy affiliate.

“I put it there believing that it was in safe hands, but I was wrong,” Soriano said.

She said one of her pension plans worth P100,000 matured in September last year, but Legacy officials told her that she had to wait 120 days before she could get her money. She was not able to get her funds because Legacy closed down on Dec. 8.

Another plan holder who confronted De los Angeles was Villanueva who said she took out a P26,000 memorial plan five years ago, paying more than P2,000 a month.

“It’s small but this would be a great help for us. We paid this little by little. I hope I could at least retrieve the basic [amount]. I no longer hope to get the interest,” she said.

Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, chair of the Senate trade and commerce committee leading the investigation of the troubled pre-need industry, said the plight of these plan holders and depositors was the reason he won’t stop pressing De los Angeles.

“Don’t you pity these people, who don’t even know a balance sheet, income statement,” he said.

“(This should) show you Mr. De los Angeles the faces of those you have stolen money and hope from, and learn about the situation of those you have wronged because of this financial manipulation,” Roxas said.

“You’re (an) AIM (Asian Institute of Management graduate). You’re a financial wizard. You used your financial wizardry and look at what happened? I will not let you off. The Senate will not let you off,” he said.