Rise and fall of an empire

High stakes gambling is nothing new to him. After all, businessman Kazuo Okada built his business empire around betting. His company, Universal Entertainment Corp. (UEC), is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of slot machines and he has created a gaming empire through pachinko, a Japanese arcade game that became a gambling sensation and a staple in Japan’s casinos. Okada has also invested in casinos and even has one in Manila.

His was a classic rags-to-riches story. Born during the war, the 75-year-old Kazuo shouldered the responsibility of supporting his family at a young age after they lost their father. Through sheer determination and hard work, he managed to rise from the rubbles of the war to become one of the richest in Japan with a net worth of around $3 billion.

But now, Kazuo has found himself fighting a war not only against his former business associates but also his own son, who just last year ousted him from UEC, the company which the elder Okada founded five decades ago. He has teamed up with his daughter to lodge a criminal complaint against his son in Hong Kong. Kazuo also invested in Wynn Resorts, which later ousted him as director due to allegations that he violated US anti-bribery laws for treating Philippine gaming officials in Las Vegas and Macau. In 2010, he set up Okada Holdings in Hong Kong. Through that company, he and his family own 67 percent of UEC. Kazuo has now been ousted from both UEC and Okada Holdings as director and officer but he remains a shareholder.

The elder Okada has also been kicked out by UEC Philippine subsidiary Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI) as chairman of Okada Manila.

UEC has accused Kazuo of misappropriating company funds. The Japanese billionaire is currently facing criminal complaints in Hongkong, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States, and Japan.

Meanwhile, in an interim shareholders’ meeting of Okada Holdings, Kazuo and his daughter Yukio teamed up and took control of the firm with over half of the shares. This was met with strong opposition from other shareholders who claim that all these are attempts to get rid of his oppositors and to destroy all evidence of the crimes he has committed.

Is the graft complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman against Solicitor General Jose Calida politically motivated?

A certain Jocelyn Marie Acosta-Nisperos has recently filed a complaint for graft, malversation, and breach of conduct complaint against Calida before the Ombudsman, a move seen by some quarters as an attempt to get back at the SolGen for initiating the quo warranto petition with the Supreme Court that led to the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

According to media reports, Nisperos is the founder of the Silent Majority movement and is a known supporter of the Mar Roxas-Lenie Robredo tandem during the 2016 elections. She is also said to be a supporter of Sereno and had been very visible in pro-Sereno rallies. She has likewise served as director of a New York-based multinational market research company.

In the past, she had written Calida to initiate a similar quo warranto petition against SC Associate Justice Teresita de Castro for submitting only 15 of a total of 39 SALNs from her years in public service.

Meanwhile, in her complaint against Calida, Nisperos claimed that the SolGen had an affair with his executive assistant who allegedly received P1.8 million in public funds as compensation. She, however, admitted that she had no evidence on the alleged affair other than her verified sources.

Nisperos likewise alleges that Calida failed to divest his ownership in their family business, a security firm, which bagged contracts from four government agencies.

The complainant has also scored Calida for filing the quo warranto petition against Sereno and for rejecting her request that a similar petition be filed against De Castro.

Some quarters question the timing of the Nisperos petition, since they say it was a way of getting back at Calida for the Sereno petition. But then, there are also those who say that Nisperos is being used by the opposition, which is now using the Sereno issue as a rallying point against President Duterte.

Calida himself agrees that the charges are a retaliation for his quo warranto petition, which has triggered calls for his resignation by opposition Senators Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan. He says that had his petition been thrown out by the SC, these lawmakers would just leave him in peace.

What we are sure at this time is that the SolGen is not going to take this seating down. Calida says he is ready to face his tormentors in court and will not leave his post.

Tourism awardees named

Rotary Club of Manila’s 14th Annual Tourism Personality Awards will recognize 12 tourism leaders and stakeholders on June 7, 2018 at the New World Hotel Makati Ballroom for their significant support and contribution to the development and promotion of Philippine tourism.

According to tourism awards committee chair Robert Lim Joseph, this year’s awardees are: Philippine Airlines president Jaime Bautista (hall of fame tourism awards category), Clark Development Corp. president Noel Flores Manankil (ecozone tourism), Manila Hotel EVP RTN Enrique Yap Jr. (heritage hotel tourism), Ayala Hotels & Resorts president Miguel Alexis Legaspi (hotel development tourism), Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (cultural and community tourism), Manila Bulletin columnist Julie Yap-Daza (print media), Chef Pablo “Boy” Logro of Chef Logro’s Institute of Culinary (Filipino culinary tourism), Diamond Hotel general manager Vanessa Suatengco (hotel management tourism), Infinity Tower Suites chairman RTN Joaquin Rodriguez (condotel tourism), vice president RY 1985-86 RTN Jose Roilo Golez (Philippine tourism advocacy), InfiniteTravel and Tours president Rene Lazaro (outbound travel tourism), and Holy Angel University chairman Rev. Archbishop Emeritus Paciano Aniceto, DD (tourism education).

Aside from Joseph, members of the tourism awards committee 2018 include VP Chito Zaldarriaga, board legal adviser Amadin Valdez, Sec. Alvin Lacambacal, PP Francis Juico, PC Ace Pascual, RTN Farid Schoucair, DE Jackie Rodriguez and RCM president Jimmie Policarpio.

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