Why SEC can't probe fake corporations, NGOs
MANILA - The Securities and Exchange Commission admitted Thursday it has no reliable system in place to determine if it is receiving applications from fake corporations or non-stock, non-profit organizations. In today's hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the pork barrel scam, SEC Chairperson Teresita Herbosa said there are a total of 21,000 foundations in the country but only 10,000 are active as of August 2013. The SEC chief stressed the need for a computerized registration system and said bidding for that system is scheduled to begin next week. "There could be instances where the [tax identification number] is fake or the person presented several TINs depending on application they are filing. Sometimes, they don't indicate specific addresses which we can see pre-registration. We need a computer program to detect...If it is a cursory review, they will be missed," she told the Senate hearing. Herbosa said that in 2009, the BIR assigned three personnel to the SEC to see whether the TINs presented in the applications are valid. She said the process worked for a while but the BIR personnel were later recalled. "We now have to rely on just whether numbers look like TINs or on some complaints later," she said. Herbosa said there are three instances when registered corporations are investigated or reviewed: through random checks, when a complaint has been filed or when the corporation itself files for a certificate of good standing from the SEC. She said there are only eight processors in the corporate governance and finance department who go over the 21,000 corporations in the country. She said that if each processor handles 200 corporations every year, the SEC would need at least 54 processors to handle 10,000 active corporations and foundations.