Kapa office closure in Tacloban shocks, dismays members

Members of the Kapa in Tacloban City and other parts of Eastern Visayas hopes to still recover their investment after its office was raided by members of the PNP and NBI on Monday afternoon

TACLOBAN CITY –– Rey Rosendal was supposed to receive his “blessing” in the amount of P15,000 from the Kabus Padatoon (Kapa) Community Ministry International-Tacloban branch on Tuesday.

But to his dismay, the office was already closed and appeared to have been abandoned.

“I came here to get my money. I did not know that it was closed already though my son told me that he heard about it,” said Rosendal, 55, of Barangay Cabalawan.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents also went to the Kapa office in Marasbaras District here on Monday but it was empty.

They, however, managed to obtain several documents and certificates that might be used to file charges against the Kapa officials.

Last Saturday, President Duterte ordered the NBI and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to probe and if warranted, shut down Kapa, a Surigao del Sur-based religious corporation, and other groups for alleged involvement in investment scams.

Kapa was allegedly soliciting investments from the public by encouraging them to “donate” any amount in exchange for a 30-percent monthly return.

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued Kapa a permanent cease-and-desist order.

But for Kapa members here, their investment was a “donation” while the money they received in monthly interest was a “blessing.”

Rosendal has donated a total of P25,000 since March 22.

He was supposed to get his blessing worth P15,000 on Tuesday but the office had already closed down.

“I hope they will still operate and have my money back which I was supposed to use for the repair of my house,”he said.

A woman, who is from Pinabacdao town in Samar, was supposed to get P45,000, which covered three months in interest for her P50,000 investment which started in March.

But she too was shocked when she learned that Kapa had shut down its operations here.

“It’s supposed to be my first blessing. I hope I can still receive it,” said the woman, 32, who declined to give her name.

She said her employer encouraged her to join the Kapa. Her employer invested P100,000 and got his monthly interest.

Another woman, who lived near the Kapa office and declined to be identified, said she planned to join after hearing the “good news” from her friends who enjoyed fast return of their investment.

Asked if she would still invest her money on Kapa after what happened, the woman just smiled.

The Kapa started operating here last January with more than 5,000 members from different parts of Eastern Visayas. (Editor: Leti Boniol)