A FOUNDATION that made donations to the Kapa-Community Ministry International, Inc. asked the Supreme Court to remove their organization from the list of unregistered investment entities issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and to allow Kapa to resume operations.

In a petition for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus filed June 21, Rhema Int’l Livelihood Foundation, Inc., which also goes by the name of its project Cirfund, asked the court to enforce a status quo on Kapa’s operations and to expunge its name from the SEC list.

The group also wants President Rodrigo R. Duterte and SEC Chairman Emilio B. Aquino to pay compensatory damages of P3 billion.

Further, the petitioner sought that Mr. Duterte be submitted to impeachment proceedings for violation of Article II Section 6 (separation of church and state) and Article III (Bill of Rights) of the Constitution.

The petitioner said the President “took lightly of the constitutional rights of the citizens” and committed grave abuse of discretion by circumventing the power of the judiciary.

Cirfund, described in the petition as a project of Rhema, which is a foundation accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other local government units, stated that “it is in fear of being treated like the KAPA Ministry.”

“(H)ence, if the Supreme Court will not lift a finger, the President and Mr. Emilio Aquino of the Securities and Exchange Commission will not cease to act in excess and less of its power, not to expunge Cirfund from the Records of the Securities and Exchange Commission from its Advisory dated May 31, 2019, then he violated the Bill of Rights of the Philippine Constitution,” the petition read.

Rhema also said that SEC committed grave abuse of discretion “amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction and enjoyment of a right of office” when it issued the advisory on unregistered investment entities, which included its project Cirfund.

The SEC issued a cease-and-desist order against Kapa last February and revoked its certificate of registration in April.

The commission also filed a complaint against Kapa before the Department of Justice on June 18 for violation of the Securities Regulation Code over alleged involvement in an investment scam.

The President, early this month, has also ordered the closure of Kapa. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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