CLAIM: BBM International Incorporated operates as a social welfare agency with “assured benefits” for members.
RATING: FALSE
Some individuals introducing themselves to be affiliates of “Bagong Bansang Maharlika (BBM) International Incorporated” in Facebook groups are claiming without basis that they can provide lifetime access to supposed “assured benefits” for members.
These bogus “assured benefits” include lifetime access to free education, free hospitalization, and cash assistance to all Filipinos aged 1 year old and above.
To get these supposed benefits, a prospective member is required to fill-up an application form and pay a P100 processing fee for their identification cards.
On Aug. 28, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an advisory to caution the public against joining this group.
“The public is hereby WARNED that registration only gives the subject entity the juridical personality to operate as a corporation and does not encompass activities which requires the necessary permit/license/authority such as but not limited to operate as a Private Social Welfare Development Agency (SWDA) from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD),” the SEC said.
A Social Welfare Development Agency (SWDA) refers to a non-stock, non-profit organization aiming to directly or indirectly implement social welfare and development programs and services in the Philippines, assessed as capable of operating administratively, technically, and financially. Its clients may include, but are not limited to, the impoverished, disadvantaged, and vulnerable individuals, groups, families, and communities, as stated in DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 17, Series of 2018.
Despite the SEC’s warning, affiliates of BBM International Inc. persist as they hold SEC registration and claim that their organization’s source of money was signed by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
BBM International Incorporated was registered on March 18, 2022 under SEC Registration No. 2022030046453-01. However, it is not a private SWDA. Justine Bautista
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Justine Bautista is a Journalism student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and an intern for PressOnePH. This piece was created under the supervision of PressOnePH’s editors.
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