The view from Mark Jimenez’s penthouse is one of a kind: neat rows of the white crosses in the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Bonifacio Global City. Inside, crystal vases with fresh flowers are everywhere. There is an old Austrian piano that nobody knows how to play in the living room. There are photos of his family.

The No. 1 rule in Jimenez’s household is that no shoes are allowed. Visitors leave their shoes in a closet near the elevator. Thus, Jimenez returns home from a legal appointment dressed in a barong Tagalog and socks. He quickly changes into his house wear, a kamiso chino or sleeved vest and loose pants.

Up close, Jimenez is charming and occasionally combative and condescending. The interview lasted more than an hour.

Excerpts:

You are one of the richest men in the Philippines. How much are you worth right now?

My worth is irrelevant. For me, wealth is what you share. Wealth is never an income, but is always a grace. Wealth, for me, is something that is given by God. I don’t even call it wealth; I call it the graces of God that are given to you because you thank Him, because you know it belongs to Him.  

Your expertise is telecommunications.

No. My employees and my executives have very good backgrounds in telecommunications. What I am, maybe, is a good leader who just happens to understand how to run a business. Look at Manny Pangilinan. He’s not a telecommunications expert; he’s an investment banker. But look where he is right now. All you need is honesty, governance and the truth.

My expertise is creating values, which is not the same thing as creating wealth. Wealth is the wrong word. Wealth is made in hell; values of sacraments, values of grace are made in heaven. All my investments are investments in heaven.  

Tell us how you made your first million.

My first million was made when I was 20 years old. (laughs) 

Twenty? That’s impressive!

The thing is, making money is not hard. The harder part is really enjoying what you’ve made. I’ve seen people with lots of wealth and lots of businesses but without a glow in their faces. I see that they want more.  

What do you enjoy?

Discussing issues that are relevant. The relevant issue now is: Why is my country the most corrupt country in the world? Why is my country one of the dirtiest? Why does my country have an airport that cannot open for business? Why is my country polluting its crown jewel of a river? I am a populist. What’s that? Sovereignty of God or the delivery of social and spiritual services to the children of God. It’s a covenant and a testament of governance of a nation built by God. What’s wrong with that?

But we already know that Filipinos are not into populist presidents. We can’t handle the concept. So I don’t want to be president, even though everybody thinks I’m going to run for president [in 2010]. I just want to remain a simple man.

If you ask me, you don’t have an ideology. Business ideology. Political ideology. What does a company stand for? What do you stand for? You tell me.

Look at Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Slovenia, the Yugoslav Republic. You know, their per capita income now is $6,000 to $7,000 compared to no income  when they were under the communists.

What about you? A hundred years of democracy (The Philippines was the first country in Asia to declare its independence in 1898—ed.) and you still do not have democracy. What you have is looting of what is up there and looting of what is down there. You see, you are expanding poverty. This is the only country that creates more poverty. This is the only country where people are not only getting poorer, but are also more abused and brutalized than before. 

That’s a rather sweeping statement, don’t you think?

Your problem is you think I am bad. I am the one wronged. The Philippine government is the one that’s bad. I don’t owe it anything. I pay my taxes. Last year, I paid P250 million and I was investigated for that. What’s my sin? That’s what I want to ask you, Ms. Grey. Can you tell me what is my sin? What did I do wrong to this country? Or to other persons?

That’s why your country is poor. You permit such things.  

How would you describe yourself?

This is Mark Jimenez. I know who I am, and I know everybody in the Philippines because I am an information czar. That’s my business. Politics is a big part of business. I am a very rich man.  

You came back January of this year. With all your money and connections, you didn’t have to. Why did you?

Because I wanted to. Because when I was in the isolation room [in a United States-based prison for illegal political contribution], I saw everything. I’ve baptized the children of God. I’ve fixed public markets. I’ve capitalized small market vendors. All I ask is they sell their milkfish at the right price. I’ve been all over the Philippines, helping people. These are gifts, not loans. After all, God gave the money, not me.

Yesterday, I bought stocks, and their value went up again. Look at my ABS-CBN stocks. I bought it at P12 and it’s now doing P33.

Since my return, the stock market has been very bullish. When I returned during Erap’s [former President Joseph Estrada’s] time, the market was up. The peso also reversed. It was P44 [to the dollar] during Erap’s time, and it went up to P37 when I handled it. During Gloria’s time, it was P55 to P54, now it’s P45. It’s simple, really. It’s all about foreign equity coming in. You know, the peso could go as high as P25 if foreign investors really believe in this country.  

Let’s go back to your earlier statement that “politics is business.” Could you explain that?

I had several discussions with the President before Mike [Arroyo] got sick about taxation. The latest one was before the May election. I told her we could meet every day, we could meet in the Senate or in Congress, we could have Tuesday or Wednesday meetings, and nothing would happen because, when she closes her eyes, the budgetary problem would still be there.

What are we talking about? P500 billion is set aside to pay for salaries, utilities, office space, operations. With P500 billion, that means teachers’ salaries will have to stay at P11,000 and the salaries of soldiers and policemen will have to stay at P14,000. There’s not enough money for food and medicines, for schools, for firemen, for everything. And then, there’s the external debt servicing of P400 billion. The budget for infrastructure is a measly P100 billion.

In effect, you have legislated poverty; you have legislated graft and corruption.  

Obviously, we have to increase our revenues.

No! You just have to be honest. (laughs). Honest like other countries. They’re honest. 

So, we have enough revenues?

No! There are a lot of revenues that are not reported, and examples are everywhere. C’mon! Let me give you an example:  Instead of paying sales tax, I’d tax companies based on their production. That’s what you call measured capacity, and I told the President about this. Now it’s measured. And I have the technology. I can use radio-frequency identification on the inventories [of factories]. That’s what’s being used right now in Latin America. I can talk to Manny Pangilinan tomorrow and broadband [the computation of taxes] so all the factories will be monitored. Easily, we can increase tax collection by P1.2 trillion.

Here’s another example: the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT). All I have to do is vertically integrate through a backbone all the data that can be accessed with the press of a button. You eat a pizza and you pay a 12-percent VAT. That 12 percent is entirely paid to the government, no more, no less. That’s another P1 trillion collected. With the additional collection, we can easily quadruple the salaries of policemen, nurses and everybody else!

That’s why when the President said last Christmas, “I have a new way of increasing the revenues through technology,” I was so happy. I said to myself, “It’s going to happen!” 

What kind of investment is needed for such a technology to be put in place?

None on your part. You can have this financed through the World Bank. In fact, the World Bank would give you all the money needed just to increase or enhance tax collection. They want a country to be successful so that the dynamics of the economy is spread. There should not be “haves” and “have-nots.” I don’t want that. I want everyone in this country to be “haves.”  

Given that technology plays a big role in such a strategy, does this mean the government will need less people to collect the same amount or even higher amount of taxes?

No, no. Don’t worry about having less people. I’m more worried about what would be the benefit to the 90 million children of God in this country. You are all parochial and selective in this country. Me? I want to do something. Don’t select anything. Everybody is equal. 

Would such a formula go down to the grassroots level? Right now, the money doesn’t seem to be reaching the poor.

That’s because what we need is a trickle-down economy. That’s what I have been saying again and again. What we have right now is trickle-up. Here, the money of the poor goes to the rich. The money of the rich stays with the rich. All the countries in the world which have become rich have expanded their middle class, and have reduced the number of their poor. That’s the only secret of their success. Consumer spending will go higher, and your per capita income will be higher. 

How do we, therefore, expand the middle class?

Simple. For example, all the countries in the world which collected the right amount of revenues and spent these properly showed increased investments. Look at Vietnam. Everybody’s investing in Vietnam. Look at Hong Kong. Look at China. Investors have trust; they have faith [in the political and economic policies of these countries]. Our problem is rhetoric. That’s why, for me, it goes back to one and the same thing: Are we an honest country? Do we have faith in God? The answer is no. 

In one sentence, what is the formula of Mark Jimenez for economic development? One sentence.

The truth (laughs). The truth.  

You mean transparency?

No. Transparency has long been used. It’s overused. 

Accountability?

It’s overused. Fear of God. Love of God. Look at other nations which believe in God, which have faith. We are the only Catholic country and Christian country in Asia, and yet, we are the most corrupt country. What else do you want me to tell you? Go ahead and make your own conclusions. Do we have the wrong God? Maybe we have the wrong followers. Do they have the right God? Maybe. And the right followers? Maybe. Now, it depends on what you believe in. You see, you’ve forgotten something. You’ve cheated your own people. You’ve destroyed the environment.  And you ask what is my formula? Don’t destroy. Build. All you have to do is reverse this country.

Everything that is wrong is right in this country, and everything that is right is wrong. That’s why [throwing] garbage [everywhere] is acceptable, but I don’t think it is. For you, a woman standing and a man sitting [inside a public bus or train] is acceptable, but I don’t think it is. For you, poverty is acceptable, but I don’t believe it is. If you can accept dirt, then maybe you are doing something dirty, too.

In the end, this country will become a country of God. I can already smell it. I can feel it. I can see it. I have faith in God that it will happen in my lifetime. You have no other choice.  

Let’s change gears. What’s the real story behind the PLDT deal [when Hong Kong-based First Pacific Group bought government shares in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.]?

PLDT is right now worth P500 billion. Thank you, Mark Jimenez. That’s the real story. Now it’s a P500-billion company. If we were in America, you would have asked me how I knew that it was the right solution. How did I know that government shares should be unraveled and sold to real investors? PLDT is now listed in the US Nasdaq and is doing well. 

What about Equitable [when the Go family of Equitable Bank and the two government pension funds bought majority control of PCI Bank]?

It’s now doing P130. That’s a P40 profit per share. I should be given a medal. At the very least, I should have had a commission. In 1998, its market capitalization was P40 billion. Now it has multiplied by 10. Imagine that, your P1 investment is now worth P10.

That’s the secret. Unravel. Look at Meralco. It’s now P97 per share.

Now here’s the problem: Who is getting richer? The investor. What about the government? Look at Petron. I don’t know why Petron’s share is still valued at P4 when all the listed gasoline companies all over the world have seen their shares go up by five times. It’s either Aramco is cheating us or PNOC [Philippine National Oil Corp.] is cheating us, or both of them are cheating us. It’s just a question of valuation.  

How was your record as a congressman? You pushed for a lower amount that would constitute money laundering. That certainly didn’t make you very popular among the other members of Congress.

I was the only one who pushed for a minimum of $10,000. All the congressmen fought me. That’s why it took three years for the law to pass. They wanted $50,000. They also took out my predicate for tax evasion. I also authored the laws on special-purpose vehicles and securitization.

And I didn’t steal anything while I was a congressman. I gave everything to PGH [Philippine General Hospital]. That’s why I was named “PGH Congressman of the Year” every year.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/07312007/perspective01.html

My Life, My Mission

CHILDHOOD

Mark Jimenez was born Mario Batacan Crespo on December 31, 1946, New Year’s eve, in Paco, Manila, the fourth child in a brood of seven by Ramon Salamat Crespo and Carmen Acosta Batacan. He was only 11 months old when the only daughter in the family was born, and the attention of his parents was riveted to the newborn girl. Mark had been entrusted to an aunt who wet nursed him.

He was still a toddler when he nearly died of poisoning due to the carelessness of somebody in his parents’ household. As he grew up, he became aware of favoritism in the family. Some of his siblings were even sent to the States to study, while Mark was often left alone at home with only housemaids as companions. He felt neglected; so he learned to be independent and close to God.

Hence, it was not surprising that he gravitated towards poor playmates in the neighborhood. At first, he played with the children of their driver and household helps. Then he ventured out to the railroad tracks, where he met and befriended Ilyong, Atok, Totoy and Lourdes dela Cruz whose family lived in an entresuelo near a piggery.

“Many rich people lived in Paco near where the house of Mark’s parents stood,” Ilyong noted. “President Laurel, Chief Justice Ricardo Paras, Speaker Yulo, Speaker Laurel were only some of the rich and powerful persons who lived in the area. But Mark Jimenez didn’t want anything to do with children from those rich families. He preferred to play with us instead.”

The young Mark almost became a member of the dela Cruz family. Their small dwelling became his daily hang out. He played there and partook of the family’s meager meals. Severely deprived as they were, the dela Cruz family gladly shared with Mark whatever food they had.

“With them, I learned to eat with my bare hands,” says Mark. “Most of the time, they were lucky to have sardines, dried fish, or bagoong for viand. The meals were often rice and salt, rice and soy sauce, or rice and air – meaning they had no viand at all.”

So, Mark smuggled canned goods and other foodstuffs from his parents’ pantry and gave them to his playmates. He was four or five years old then. One day, a policeman accosted the young boy struggling to carry a heavy bag full of groceries. A kid with plenty of canned goods amidst a depressed neighborhood was an anomaly in the eyes of the police officer. He thought the kid must have stolen the foodstuffs somewhere. He didn’t believe Mark when the kid said the bag of foods came from his parents’ house.

With the boy in tow, he knocked on the gate of the big house. Only when the Crespo’s maids informed the cop that the boy indeed belonged to the household was Mark released.

Mark’s parents owned and operated a large grocery store in Project 6, Quezon City. And whenever he was in the area, he gravitated toward the nearby depressed community in Pagasa. He would smuggle canned goods from the warehouse and give them to poor kids in the area.

“My parents were official NAMARCO distributors,” said Tess, Mark’s younger sister. (The National Marketing Corporation or NAMARCO was a government agency that sold cheap basic goods and grocery items to consumers at that time.)

“But instead of picking up cheap foodstuffs, Mark would sneak to the warehouse and choose imported cans of corned beef, sardines, liver spread, and other items to give away to the needy children in Pagasa.”

LIFE IN THE SEMINARY

Mark’s natural inclination to help the needy and to serve God motivated him to work as an altar boy. For years, he enjoyed assisting priests at the Paco parish church as they celebrated the holy mass.

Eventually, Mark’s devotion motivated him to seek the priesthood in order to serve God and His people. He entered the Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary, but the rigid discipline proved too much for his young body to endure. At the age of 18, he left the seminary.

The rest of his education came from the Jesuits, but he dropped out of the Ateneo de Manila University in 1967 before earning a bachelor’s degree. He decided to seek his own destiny and become independent of his parents.

EARLY BUSINESS VENTURES

Still known as Mario Crespo, he tried various enterprises such as soft drinks distribution, heavy equipment selling, copra trading, and computer dealership among other things. They were trial-and-error ventures, and like all other budding entrepreneurs hardships dogged his trail. Success seemed elusive.

At times, money seemed to be flowing abundantly and he seemed on top of the world; other times he was down on his luck, borrowing gasoline money from friends. But Mark was determined to succeed and had an uncanny vision that he had a mission in life to fulfill.

In between his efforts to establish a viable business, he met his first wife, married, and raised children. (When he got married Mark had only P200 in his pocket.) The long hours he kept and the constant pressure at work, however, affected his family life. His marriage fell apart.

He soon decided to immigrate to the U.S. to try his luck there. To have a fresh start, he changed his name to Mark Jimenez. His devotion to St. Mark inspired him to choose the name “Mark,” while he got the surname from a dear friend named Jimmy Jimenez, who helped him get to the States.

LIFE IN CALIFORNIA

In 1984, with only US$2,000 in his pocket for capitalization, Jimenez put up Apex Magnetics in California. The company engaged in buying wholesale out-of-brand diskettes such as Verbatim and selling them at discounted prices. It was hard work, but Jimenez proved to be a forward-looking businessman. Two years later, the company was selling Seagates hard drives.

Then he learned that Latin America was at least two years behind in computers. The Internet was starting a world revolution in communication, and he knew that the future belonged to Information Technology. Computers would soon be selling like the proverbial hotcakes.

He saw the opportunity and grabbed it.

FUTURE TECH

In 1988, Jimenez moved to Miami, Florida and established Future Tech International, a firm that exported computer parts to lucrative markets in Latin America. He managed to convince Quantum Corp. of Milpitas, California and Cyrix Corp. of Richardson, Texas to make his company the exclusive distributor of their computer components in South America, the U.S. back door.

Soon, Newsweek magazine reported that Future Tech International was one of the top 300 fastest growing companies in the US. It was the exclusive distributor of Samsung monitors in 28 Latin American countries; Quantum’s biggest hard drive distributor worldwide; the exclusive world distributor of NEC floppy drives, Texas Instrument memories; Canon printers; and Nikon electric Floppy drives.

By 1995, Future Tech was grossing over US$500 million a year.

Mark Jimenez was listed by “Who’s Who in America” as one of the top CEO’s in the U.S. His solid reputation as a brilliant businessman-executive enabled him to hobnob with captains of industry and heads of states in North and Latin America.

Mark’s phenomenal success made him more generous and kind For five years, he annually donated computers to the United Way of Dade County in Miami. He also built a church in Miami so that Filipinos in the city would have their own house of worship, complete with a flying Filipino flag.

When Mark became aware of the plight of Cubans trying to escape harsh and repressive conditions on the tiny socialist country of Cuba, Mark gladly lend a helping hand. Cuba is just a few hours away from the coast of Florida, so the refugees sailed on rickety boats and rafts hoping to drift to ashore and escape to freedom. Many men, women, and children died at sea.

Mark actively supported the Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based humanitarian organization rescuing and assisting refugees emigrating from Cuba. Because of his assistance, Cubans in Miami regarded him and other Filipinos as well as their true friends.

LIFE WITH THE CLINTONS

Mark first met former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1994, and the meeting brought him close to the occupants of the White House in Washington. Mark was soon playing golf with the American president and socializing with former First Lady and now-Sen. Hillary Clinton.

He became Florida’s largest donor to the Democratic Party in 1996. He reportedly contributed more than US$800,000 to various Democrat causes. He also donated generously to the renovation of Clinton’s ancestral home in Arkansas. Other prominent Democrats at that time such as Vice President Al Gore, Senator Edward Kennedy, and many others also regarded him as a major supporter and close friend. Soon, the White House was consulting Mark on Latin American affairs.

Mark had visited and even stayed overnight at the White House at least a dozen times. He slept in a room on the same floor where the first couple’s bedroom was located, the only Filipino given such an honor by the American president.

The fascination of Mark Jimenez with the Democrats is understandable. He was, and still is, a populist at heart, and the Democratic Party’s platform is similar to the populist ideology Mark believed in. The word populism comes from the Latin word “populus,” which generally means people as a nation.

As an ideology, populism spouses the idea that the government should be run by the people. Populism is in direct contrast with elitism, aristocracy, or plutocracy that espouses government by a small, privileged group above the masses.

PHILIPPINE VISIT

He didn’t know it then, but Mark Jimenez’s sojourn to the Philippines in 1998 to renew his ties with old friends and relatives would serve as a fork in the road that would lead him to a God-given mission that would affect the lives of millions of neglected, abused, and deprived Filipinos.

Shortly after he arived in Manila, Mark was introduced to the newly elected president, Joseph Estrada. The rapport between the two was instantaneous. They became friends, and soon Mark was a regular guest in Malacanang. Soon, he was advising the former president on financial matters.

“He is a corporate genius,” Estrada blurted out on the air in one of his radio programs. Estrada had a reason to admire his new friend. Almost single-handedly, Mark engineered a sharp increase in the valuation of Philippine stocks to the benefit of the government and the private sector.

Shares of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Meralco, San Miguel Corporation, and other companies were gobbled up by international investors at prices several times more than their prime rates. The local stock market was revived.

Mark could have earned a small fortune from the transactions, but he declined to get commissions from the windfall he created. Unfortunately, Mark’s accomplishment earned him powerful enemies, who were hoping to snag at fire sale prices the corporations with government shares. About this time, the incumbent president admitted to Mark in one unguarded moment that the “Erap para sa Mahirap” theme of the administration was nothing more than a cheap gimmick to fool voters.

Mark was shocked. He slowly began distancing himself from Malacanang. All along, he thought he could help the people by staying close to the corridors of power. He was wrong.

To help the needy, Mark organized soup kitchens in Manila under the San Antonio Charities Foundation banner, a favorite charity of his sister Tess. Tens of thousands of tired and hungry men, women, and children found temporary relief from hunger at the daily soup kitchens.

CONGRESS

On the May 14, 2001 elections. Mark Jimenez decided to run for congressman of the sixth district of Manila, covering Paco, Pandacan, and Sta. Ana where he was born and grew up.

Many people believed it would be next to impossible for him to beat the incumbent Pablo V. Ocampo, whose family had ruled the district for almost 20 years. But Mark’s appeal to ordinary voters on the street proved unbeatable. Although he entered the contest late and campaigned for just one month or so, he won the electoral contest.

In congress, Jimenez immediately pursued the interests of his constituents. Project after project was deployed in the district to benefit out-of-school youths, senior citizens, the jobless, and the oppressed. The San Antonio Charities Foundation’s soup kitchens were expanded and became popularly known as Kusina ni Jimenez. During Mark’s abbreviated legislative career, he authored two and co-authored 21 national bills, and sponsored three local bills for a total of 36. Unknown to many, Mark authored two landmark bills that greatly benefit the whole country.

One is what is now known as the Anti-Money Laundering Law of 2001 or R.A. No. 9160. The importance of the law to the economic well-being of the Philippines can be seen from the fact that a number of politicians are now claiming to be the father of this particular law.

It is on official House of Representatives record, however, that Mark Jimenez filed House Bill No. 09 on the first regular session of the 12th Congress. The original title of the bill was: “An Act Curtailing the Illegal Activities of Racketeers and Powerful Syndicates in the Philippines.”

In his introductory note to the bill, Mark stated that “Organized crime has become so pervasive in the Philippines today…Money obtained through various illegal activities is used by these criminal organizations to infiltrate legitimate business ventures. This is for the purpose of giving such money some color of legality and to try to corrupt our democratic system…

“The purpose of this measure which is patterned after the RICO (Racketeers Influenced and Corrupt Organization) statute of the United States is primarily aimed at preventing the use of money and power by organized crime syndicates to subvert and corrupt legitimate business by facilitating the prosecution of and imposing stiffer penalties for criminal offenders. It penalizes, as a distinct crime, the act of laundering (which means to “transfer funds of dubious or illegal origin and later to recover them from what seem to be “clean” (i.e. legitimate) sources.”

During the subsequent Second and Third Reading all the way to the Bicameral Conference Committee to reconcile both versions of the House and the Senate bills, the Anti-Money Laundering Law of 2001 was born.

The law criminalized money laundering by penalizing those who obtain funds through kidnapping, smuggling, drug-trafficking, illegal gambling, hijacking, graft, plunder, extortion, piracy, theft, swindling, E-commerce violations, arson and murder as well as securities fraud and “felonies of similar nature under the penal codes of other countries.”

Another Mark Jimenez baby was R.A. No. 9166, the law raising the base pay of the officers and enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Among other things, the law provides a merit system that would govern the selection, hiring, appointment, transfer, promotion or dismissal of AFP officers and personnel. The merit system includes incentives to deserving soldiers in the form of scholarship grants for their deserving children, hospital care, social services and other non-cash benefits that would strengthen professionalism and excellence in the military.

The law also mandates the formulation of continuing education programs for all officers and enlisted personnel. In addition, it also calls for the establishment of a special housing assistance program to ensure that every soldier would have an affordable home in a wholesome community.

The importance of these two landmark legislations in the country’s economy and political stability cannot be overestimated. Thanks to Mark Jimenez.

PERSECUTION

In 1992 the Democratic Party recaptured the presidency after 12 years when Bill Clinton won the election. Clinton and his vice president, Al Gore, pledged to improve the economy, which had been depressed during much of the old President Bush’s presidency. Clinton was successful in revitalizing the economy, but the Democrats lost their majority in Congress in the 1994 elections.

Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress for the first time in more than 40 years after the 1994 elections. As a result, the Democratic president and the Republican Congress often had trouble agreeing on legislation.

In 1996 President Clinton and Vice President Gore were reelected although Republicans retained their control of Congress. Hurting for their presidential election defeat, the Republicans accused the Democratic Party in 1997 of illegal campaign solicitations and fund-raising practices. Allegedly, the Democratic Party had collected contributions from foreign companies and individuals, who under campaign finance rules are not allowed to contribute money to political campaigns.

The ensuing witch hunt cornered what the Republicans perceived as their political enemies, including Mark Jimenez. A case was filed against him in the U.S. on April 15, 1999, and a petition for extradition was later on submitted to the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ filed with the Regional Trial Court on May 18, 2001, the petition for extradition against Mark Jimenez. It was docketed as Extradition Case No. 01192061. The petition alleged that Jimenez was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on April 15, 1999.

Upon learning of the request for his extradition, Mark sought and was granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) by the RTC of Manila, Branch 25. The TRO prohibited the DOJ from filing with the RTC a petition for his extradition.

Mark saw the extradition request as a politically motivated move by the Republican government to extract information from him about certain illegal operations in Latin America that allegedly could have come his way while he was doing business there.

“The United States sought my extradition for tax evasion, which is an extraditable offense,” Mark said. “Strangely enough, it does not charge me for illegal campaign contributions because it is not a crime in the Philippines.” So, what happened was that the Americans tailor-made the charges to suit the requirements of the extradition law.

Mark was an incumbent congressman, and under the Philippine Constitution lawmakers enjoyed immunity from arrest as long as Congress was in session. The case reached all the way to the Supreme Court. In an en banc decision dated September 24, 2002, the Highest Court allowed the lower court to issue a warrant of arrest against Jimenez, but permitted the respondent to post bail of P1,000,000 for his temporary liberty.

Many of his fellow congressmen and other supporters were ready to stage a sit down strike to protest what they perceived as a violation of Mark’s right as a legislator. Folding beds were brought in Congress for the vigil of supporters ready to bodily prevent Mark’s arrest.

Unable to bear the possibility of a Constitutional and diplomatic crises, Mark decided to waive his rights and opted for voluntary extradition.

MEDIA FEEDING FRENZY

Mark’s legal problem was taken advantaged of by his powerful enemies, who used the press in demonizing him. Like sharks on a feeding frenzy, Manila-based print and broadcast media attacked Mark Jimenez, coming out with speculative, sensational, and downright malicious stories without factual basis. They reported that Mark was being sought by U.S. Authorities because he was a drug dealer, a money launderer, a smuggler, a tax evader, a racketeer, or a mafiosi.

He would be jailed for a hundred years! A U.S. Marine platoon would come to Manila to arrest him! Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Newsbreak headlines shouted these lies as if Mark Jimenez were the Most Wanted Criminal in the world. Columnists of these papers excoriated him based on accusations that existed only in their imagination and in violation of moral and journalistic ethics.

They could not attack Mark based on the alleged illegal campaign contribution issue. Otherwise, they would be pointing an accusing finger to many Philippine politicians, government functionaries, captains of industry, and the elite in society – all of whom were guilty of the same offense during Philippine elections up to the present.

FAMILY TRAUMA

While the media was ganging up and crucifying Mark, his family was falling apart. He voluntarily surrendered to American authorities to face the charges against him.

But the continued media vilification campaign against him traumatized his family. A daughter had a total nervous breakdown and was put on Prozac for five weeks. A son turned to substance abuse, while another became an alcoholic. Another son had to stop going to school and transferred from one school to another in order to escape the ridicule of classmates.

Unable to bear the cruel speculation of Philippine media that he would rot in jail for a hundred years, his epileptic wife collapsed three times and suffered seizures.

Mark had spent a fortune for his defense. But he said the money he spent for lawyers was nothing compared to the pain his families had to go through in the course of the costly litigation.

“How I wish the money I spent for legal services also spared my loved ones for the trauma they felt,” said Jimenez. “I know they will carry the pain and humiliation for the rest of their lives.”

It was ironic, Mark thought. He had to spend time in prison not for stealing or committing a crime but for giving money he honestly earned to a cause that he sincerely and deeply believed in. He ended up in prison, yet in the Philippines, doing what he did would make him a celebrity. He would be lionized by media and invited to parties by politicians, government officials, and society hypocrites instead of languishing in jail.

“In the Philippines, you steal and you plunder and you become a big shot,” he mused. “In the U.S., I stole nothing and even gave my own money for a cause I believed in and I landed in jail!”

LIFE IN PRISON

Mark Jimenez, the former CEO and majority shareholder of Future Tech International, Inc. (FTI), was sentenced by District Judge Patricia Sietz of the US District Court for the Southern district of Florida, Miami Division to 27 months in prison on charges of tax evasion and election financing offenses on August 1, 2003.

In addition to the prison term, Jimenez was ordered to pay US$1.2 million in restitution.

Mark was sent to the low security Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex in White Deer, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. The compound was actually divided into three sections housing maximum, medium, and minimum security prisoners.

The 3,500 inmates inside the facility were a mix of blacks, Latinos, and Asians whose age ranged from 20 to 70 years. There were only seven Filipinos when Mark arrived. The number later on rose to 14. Allenwood-low was supposedly a minimum security facility for minor offenders, but murderers, rapists, and thieves were mixed with inmates like Mark because the prison administrator regularly moved some hard core prisoners from the maximum prison nearby to the minimum security facility whenever they displayed good behavior.

It was a radically different world from the one he left behind at Forbes Park. Mark found himself in a cell measuring five by seven feet. Aside from a double deck and a single bed arranged like a letter “L,” a wash basin and toilet bowl, the room had no other amenities. The mattress was thin and barely cushioned tired bones from the hard bed.

Mark was able to adjust to prison conditions after a while. He befriended the Filipino inmates and encouraged them to go to church two times a week. Then he prevailed upon the group to attend religious services of other faiths, too. He told them there was only one God; only religious denominations differ.

He also persuaded other nationalities – even non-Christians — to join them. Soon, more than 50 prisoners were crowding the chapel during Sunday and Thursday Eucharistic services.

Mark had a daily work routine of sweeping the floor or cleaning the unit, polishing doorknobs, taking care of the laundry, or taking out the garbage. During idle hours, he organized games or chess tournaments to help Pinoy prisoners while away the time. He put up US$300, US$200, and US$100 prizes to the winners.

He had contracted somebody outside to cook Pinoy dishes like paella, kare-kare, adobo and bring them to the prison yard every Sunday for them to feast on.

In prison, Mark prayed and fasted 16 to 18 hours a day. Some prison security officers often kidded him that he would overshot heaven because he prayed too much. Through an outside intermediary, he arranged to send to his fellow inmates regular allowances for their extra food and personal needs or the needs of their families back home. He made no distinction between Filipinos and other races. Although Mark never made it known he was the one giving th allowances, it became an open secret that the monetary blessings came from him.

His concealed kindness earned him the respect of the whole prison community. Every prisoner was soon saluting him and respectfully addressing him as “El Presidente.”

As Valentine’s Day 2004 approached, Jimenez learned that many of the prisoners had not seen their wives and children for years. Their family simply didn’t have the money for transportation and for motel rooms where they could stay for the visit. He arranged for their family to receive the money they need for transportation fare and lodging.

It was one festive Valentine’s Day at Allenwood. As could be expected, prison authorities learned about Jimenez’s generosity, and they pronounced it against prison regulations. Mark was punished by putting him in an isolation chamber or bartolina for 30 days.

Near the end of his prison term, Mark once again was thrown into the isolation chamber, delaying his release by several months. As the end of his sentence neared, he arranged to give the prisoners he would leave behind generous allowances. For that brotherly gesture, he once again landed in the bartolina for four and a half months.

JOYFUL AND JOYOUS

Isolation cells are the bane of even hardened criminals. They were known to prisoners as “the hole,” used to keep misbehaving prisoners in solitary confinement. Inside the isolation cell or bartolina, Mark faced one of the greatest challenges of his life. Total darkness enveloped the 6 x 4 hole for almost 24 hours; it had no windows and lights were controlled by the guards. He was chained to his bed, and the only contact outside occurred when the guards opened a small aperture at the bottom of the metal door where they shoved scraps of food to the prisoner during mealtime.

Mark was permitted half an hour per day for limited solitary exercise. Showers and change of clothing was allowed once a week. He was always in chains whenever he was taken out, and when he went for a shower one arm remained manacled alternately. Treated like an animal, Mark couldn’t do anything except stare in the dark, think, and pray.

Paradoxically, Mark regarded his prison experience, particularly the time spent in isolation chambers, as the most joyous and joyful moments of his life. He turned to God. He had always felt close to God since his childhood — living his life in accordance with the Golden Rule — but in prison he surrendered everything to the Lord. He offered to God the anger and bitterness he felt against those who he thought had betrayed him.

Repentant, he spent his days in prayer, fasting, and meditation in the dark isolation chamber. One day, he saw a heavenly vision. With his eyes closed, he became aware of a strange light emanating from somewhere above his head. Soft celestial music from afar and scent of fresh flowers also filled his isolation room. His breath was like a mist rising up to heaven.

Gazing around, Mark saw angels coming down from heaven and carrying a shining crown, singing praises and praying for the glory of God. With them were seraphim, cherubims, and saints and they were all praying and praising God, too.

His prison became the Garden of Heaven; his bed became the Temple of God; and his pillows the Tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. Mark was filled with peace and happiness and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he saw Jesus Christ in His full splendor and magnificence, standing beside his bed. He gently touched Mark’s hands and stroke his forehead;

“I have forgiven all your sins, Mark,” Jesus said in a tender voice full of love. “All your transgressions, I have already paid for on the cross.” Christ gently touched and closed Mark’s eyes. He felt as if he was floating in space. When he opened his eyes again, Mark found himself at the foot of a stairway. An angel took his hands and they all ascended to the seemingly endless stairway. They eventually reached an altar where God was waiting.

The Lord embraced him and said, “welcome to heaven, Mark.”

Every day, the vision of heaven came to him until he was released from the isolation chamber.

FLIGHT TO MANILA

Former Philippine representative Mark Jimenez was released from the US Bureau of Federal Prisons on December 13, 2005. His 27-month sentence was actually reduced to 24 and he should have been released a month earlier in November 5 had it not been for the time he spent inside the isolation chamber.

On board the Northwest Airlines flight carrying him to Manila, however, an unfortunate incident made him indignant. The plane made a non-scheduled stopover in Narita airport in Japan due to inclement weather and aircraft problems. Flight 71 was delayed for 14 hours, and 160 Filipino passengers, including Mark and his family, suffered discrimination from airline personnel.

Hotel accommodations were arranged for the 18 percent Japanese passengers and the 2 percent other nationalities, but the 80 percent Filipinos were left stranded at the airport. When Mark complained about the arrangement the NWA staff in Narita provided only food, blankets and pillows to the stranded Filipinos.

Mark contacted four hotels in the area and booked rooms for the stranded Filipinos at his own expense, but by that time only a few rooms were available. Hence, only women with babies and small children could be accommodated. To show his displeasure at the shabby treatment by Northwest, Jimenez tore up the US$500 cash voucher offered by the America airline.

“The Filipino’s dignity cannot be bought for US$500 or for any other sum,” he berated the airline staff, threatening to sue the company on behalf of all Filipino passengers. “Each of us Filipino passengers discriminated upon by this airline would seek US$5 million in damages, not for the money but to prove a point and to teach Northwest Airline a lesson,”

When they reached Manila, Patricia Celis, the marketing and communications manager of Northwest Airline’s office in Manila profusely apologized for what happened. Mark accepted the apology but insisted that the civil suit had to be pursued because the apology did not absolve it of its responsibility.

HOME AT LAST

People were expecting fireworks from the former lawmaker when he finally returned to Manila on December 18, 2005. After all, he had accused then Justice Secretary Hernani Perez of extortion for allegedly demanding US$2 million from him before he was taken to the U.S.

Aside from the Perez controversy, opposition senators also exposed that the Luahalti Foundation organized by the first couple had asked Mark for a “donation” of more than P8 million. When its solicitations began to be controversial, the foundation was closed down shortly after Mrs. Arroyo took office.

Mark Jimenez, howver, surprised every one when he said that he had forgiven all those who have committed “sins” against him while he was a businessman and a congressman in Manila. He was coming back with peace and joy in his heart. What was important for him was to be reunited with his family to makeup for lost time.

“Let’s stop quarreling with one another,” he said at the airport. “Let us all unite for the progress of the nation. Tama na ang awayan, tama na ang pulitika. Magkaisa na tayo dahil tanging ang Pilipino lang ang maaasahang tutulong sa kanyang kapwa Pilipino.”

True to his words, Mark Jimenez never uttered a single remark against his perceived or real enemies; instead he immediately organized a moral renewal crusade called “Nagkakaisa sa Diyos, Nagkakaisang Pilipino” (One in God, One Filipino), The idea came to him while he was in prison. What the country needed, he thought then, was a renewal of basic values, a return to God.

It was a part of the self-proclaimed mission that he vowed he would pursue when he got out of prison. The organization would be instrumental in fulfilling his goal to reach out to the abused, neglected, and deprived members of society and to give them hope by telling them of Heaven and God’s eternal love.

MEDITATION

In mid-January 2006 following his return to Manila, Mark made a trip to the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Malaybalay, Bukidnon to meditate and pray. Among those who accompanied him in his pilgrimage was his sister Tess Crespo Alsua and selected staff of the organization, which became the forerunner of Hulog ng Langit Foundation.

The Monastery was opened in 1885 when Benedictine monks from Spain visited Mindanao for missionary work. At the monastery, monks devote themselves to a vow of silence and a life of continued prayer. At its mountain church, monks can be heard singing in Latin during vesper prayer. The facility is a spiritual center perfect for retreats and contemplation.

There, he once more felt the presence of Christ and heard angels singing, the same vision that manifested before him when he was in jail. The experience was a feast for the spirit that Jimenez wanted to last forever. They attended a religious retreat and spent the days praying and contemplating God’s message of salvation.

As if by coincidence, Mark found inside the monastery the embodiment of a recurring dream he had while in prison. In his dreams, he heard whispers that sounded like “Boses ng Diyos.” Of course, he didn’t know what the words meant. But there in the monastery, he heard a male choir singing heavenly hymns. The boys turned out to be former members of the defunct Monastery of the Transfiguration Boys Choir in the ’90s. Over the years, the 85-member choir had been disbanded, and the children were now out-of-school grown-ups.

Mark decided to revive the choir. He hired a choirmaster from the Bukidnon State College to conduct an audition. Of the 45 who auditioned, only 17 passed. They were brought to Manila and enrolled in different schools. Mark appropriately called the choir Boses ng Diyos.

Meanwhile, the plight of the poor residents in the community surrounding the monastery reached Mark. As could be expected he offered to help. Elderly folks poured to the monastery, asking for assistance. The situation reached a point where the administrators of the monastery began complaining of the disruption caused by the natives wanting to see Mark. The native folks were dirty, unruly and unkempt.

Mark resented the attitude of the monk-administrators of the community. They were lucky, he said, to have air-conditioned rooms and sumptuous dinners. Perhaps, they had forgotten how it was to be hungry and helpless.

Mark and his group set up a place outside the monastery where he could meet the people from the surrounding community. Hundreds came, not only from the nearby barangays but also from the hinterland. Barangay tanods and police authorities had to be called to maintain order. And everybody that came received a part of the heavenly blessings Mark wanted to share to those who needed them.

HUMANITARIAN MISSIONS

Even before he went to Malaybalay, Mark heard what happened to Oriental Mindoro.

Heavy rains busted a dike and produced massive floods that inundated Calapan City and underlying areas. Repeated pleas by residents for government help seemed to be falling on deaf ears. Mark immediately sent P1 million to Calapan officials for the immediate needs of the victims.

Then while in Malaybalay, he sought the help of a down-to-earth monk, Fr. Columbano, to oversee the massive relief effort that Mark was organizing. The Coast Guard agreed to ferry the P1 million worth of relief goods and the Guardian Brotherhood, a national organization of active and retired police officers, offered to help in the distribution.

But despite Mark’s humanitarian gesture, which surpassed the shallow pronouncements of many posturing politicians, many detractors still belittled what he did.

NATURAL DISASTERS

Before Christmas, typhoon Quedan hit Southern Luzon and the Bicol region, bringing in floods and misery to millions of people in the provinces. As if the ordeal were not enough, tropical depression Agaton subsequently hit Northern and Central Luzon regions, adding to the devastation wrought by nature.

True to his nature, Mark Jimenez came to the rescue without publicity or fanfare. After his trip to Malaybalay, he rallied the Nagkakaisa sa Diyos, Nagkakaisang Pilipino group, sought the help of several barangays in his old district to organize a massive relief effort, procuring and bagging food packs, blankets, medicine, and other materials. The volunteers worked day and night for almost three weeks to do the job.

Ironically, the government which should be doing the relief efforts could not even provide transportation for the relief goods being donated by Mark Jimenez. He had to hire 20 trucks from Manila to the northern and southern provines to do the job. He spent around P70 million of his own money to distribute relief goods and financial assistance to the devastated areas.

Truckloads of relief goods were brought to flood victims and residents of several towns in Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Aurora, Cagayan, Isabela, and Kalinga-Apayao. Townspeople of various municipalities Mark’s group visited welcomed them profusely. Thousands of relief good packages were distributed to residents who who were at the end of their resources. Mark and his tireless workers stayed on the road for 16 days come fair or foul weather to share the abundant blessings God had given to him.

In every disaster area where people were desperately crying for help, Mark Jimenez, the businessman-turned congressman-and-ex-convict was there, extending his helping hand and spending his own money without expecting anything in return.

Unlike many politicians who often ignore the needs of their constituents, unlike some media organizations which only give material assistance donated by their audiences or readers, Mark Jimenez shares his own wealth to those who need help.

To ensure that only those who needed assistance receive the goods, Mark had instructed the Hulog ng Langit Foundation never to allow politicians to ride on the relief work to gain political mileage. The goods were directly given to the beneficiaries whose names were obtained from the local social welfare offices, with no publicity or photo opportunities.

LEYTE LANDSLIDE

Two weeks of sustained rains triggered a landslide on February 17, 2007 in Guinsaugon village in the town of St. Bernard. The whole village, which had a population of 1,857 diivided into 321 households, was buried by the landslide. Mud, stones, and fallen trees buried whole families. An elementary school with an estimated number of 246 students and seven teachers having classes at that time perished.

The whole world was shocked by the disaster, and massive rescue efforts were mounted with the help of soldiers from the U.S., South Korea, and other countries. Relief goods from the International Red Cross and neighboring countries as well as in Europe came.

Behind the scene, away from the glare of publicity, Mark and his Hulog ng Langit Foundation quietly gave comfort to the survivors. Thy brought food, medicines, blankets, and materials to the areas where the survivors converged to await the sad news of what happened to their loved ones.

MAYON VOLCANO ERUPTION

In February 2006, scientists closely monitored Mayon after low-frequency quakes and ash puffs indicated magma was rising in its crater. Mayon, one of the country’s 22 active volcanos, last came to life in a series of eruptions in 2001, forcing the evacuation of more than 60,000 people. It has erupted about 50 times since 1616.

The volcano actually has been restless since October 2004, when officials warned villagers to stay out of a permanent 6-kilometer (3.75-mile) danger zone. In July 2006, lava emissions started cascading down Mayon’s slopes. By August 20, the volcano entered an explosive phase.

A report by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) stated that around 9,905 families or some 48,261 individuals from 32 barangays from five affected municipalities and three cities had evacuated. They were staying at 28 official evacuation centers across Albay Province.

Fears of disease due to overcrowding and contaminated drinking water swept the evacuation centers. The Hulog ng Langit Foundation brought truckloads of relief goods and medicines as well as distributed financial assistance to thousands of families.

The foundation workers stayed for two weeks to distribute truckloads of Mark’s relief goods. Mark seems to be a man in a hurry — tirelessly pursuing God’s admonition for Christians everywhere to be their brothers’ keepers.

EDUCATIONAL PLAN DEBACLE

At the start of 2006, a crisis of major proportions was brewing among policyholders of College Assurance Plan (CAP) and Pacific Plans, Inc. (PPI). Parents holding matured policies from these two big-time pre-need companies were having a hard time collecting money for the education of their children. They were being given the run-around. The two companies later admitted they could not pay their obligations to tens of thousands of parents who financially sacrificed many years to assure the education of their children.

By May 2006, thousands of parents were desperate. Classes would be open very soon, and their children had not enrolled yet. Mark was appalled at the fate of thousands of children whose future was in jeopardy.

“How can this billionaire, at his age, sleep knowing that these children who need education cannot go to school, and he even use the legal system [to escape responsibility]?” Mark said. He donated an initial P50 million to the Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) Coalition, a newly organized parents’ group pursuing the demand for restitution.

Mark also appeared at the Makati Regional Trial Court to post a P340,00 bail bond for the release of PEP leaders who, ironically, were being sued for libel by the owner and directors of Pacific Plans. He wondered aloud why, instead of working out an acceptable settlement, PPI haled them to court over the contents of their blog site, where planholders had vented their frustration over not being able to collect money in time for enrollment.

Mark promised more help and said the money would be placed in a trust fund but the initial donation should be used to pay for the tuition of the poorest among the PPI and CAP plan holders.

The donation to the victims of the pre-need firms was the biggest that Jimenez had so far given to any one group. He had spent some P700 million for various charitable and humanitarian activities since returning to the country. But he reiterated that his charitable work had nothing to do with any plans for a political comeback.

“My concern is personal. It doesn’t have any [political] color or hidden agenda, but only my desire to help the children fulfill their dreams of having an education and become better Christians,” he said.

Later on, other pre-need companies joined the first two which reneged on their obligation. Pre-need policyholders of Pacific Plans Inc., College Assurance Plans, Platinum Plans, TPG, Legac, GEI, Asian Diamond, Prudential, Pet and Pryce Plans accused the corporations of committing large-scale fraud, estafa, syndicated estafa and other punishable acts.

Strangely enough, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) never lifted a finger to investigate the companies involved. In a letter to the Coalition, the BSP only assured that it was studying PEP’s complaint against the handling of the trust fund of Pacific Plans by the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., the bank also owned by the Yuchengcos.

FEEDING THE HUNGRY

In Manila, Jimenez regularly feed the hungry and homeless families in depressed areas. Truckloads of foodstuffs – sometimes 10 trucks in a convoy – have become a common sight in Manila’s districts whenever a fiesta is being held.

Food packs consisting of Kenny Rogers fried chicken or a kilo of tocino, loaves of bread, and fruit juices are given away to at least 1,500 families in every area once a week or whenever there are fiestas being celebrated.

Jimenez had something especial for street kids, too. As a 2006 Christmas treat, he ordered 250,000 packs of hamburgers, pies, and fruit juices and give them a party of their own – complete with mascots and entertainers in Santa Claus costumes – in 50 Jollibee outlets. Then birthday treats to street children followed. A total of 500,000 Jollibee (hamburgers and chicken Joy) packs had so far been given by Mark.

Determined to give the people not only food for the stomach but also food for the soul, he also ordered the rehabilitation of Catholic chapels in Manila. Today, he is maintaining the respectability of some 275 chapels in Metro Manila.

Every weekend, these chapels are being supplied by candles, holy water, and flowers to make them attractive to worshipers from neighboring barangays.

http://www.markjimenez.org/biography.php