Mark Jimenez a.k.a. Mario Crespo

P50M donation to educational plan victims

MARK JIMENEZ donated P50 million to Pacific Plan Inc. and to College Assurance Plan policyholders so that the children beneficiaries of the failed educational plans could enroll during the opening of classes in June 2006.He later on gave another P50 million to help some 40,000 victims of the pre-need companies enroll during the second semester. PPI and CAP remains indifferent to the plight of their plan holders despite repeated pleas from distraught parents of the students.

Jimenez had also refunded the P340,000 bail bond paid by leaders of Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) coalition who were fighting a libel case filed by the PPI management at the Makati Regional Trial Court.

The money was placed in a trust fund although the initial donation was used to pay for the tuition of the poorest among PPI and CAP plan holders. Mark Jimenez said he was appalled at the fate of the pre-need subscribers and wondered how the owners of PPI and CAP could sleep at night knowing what they had done to thousands of young people hoping for a better life through education.

P15M relief goods to Bicol, Bondoc Peninsula

Controversial businessman Mark Jimenez recently visited devastated areas in Bicol and distributed some 50,000 packs of foodstuffs and roofing materials worth P15 million to the victims of supertyphoon Reming.More than 800 people were feared to have died in Legaspi City and Albay when flash flood, mud and boulders from the slopes of Mayon volcano came roaring down to the surrounding towns below at the height of supertyphoon Reming, burying and destroying almost everything on their path.

Over 28,000 houses were totally destroyed, while more than 91,000 were partially damaged. Some 201,927 families had been adversely affected by the disaster. Deeply touched by the plight of the Bicolanos, Jimenez immediately organized his own private relief effort and visited devastated areas in Legaspi City, Daraga and Guinobatan in Albay province.

Without fanfare, he ordered the distribution of packs of rice, sardines, noodles, T-shirts, and candles to the victims. Truckloads of roofing materials were also given to help people rebuild their homes.

Jimenez said it was his own way of sharing whatever blessings God has given him. He categorically denied he had political ambitions. “Please don’t ask me why I’m doing this,” he told reporters who covered his activities in Daraga and Guinobatan. “What I’m doing should be done by all normal people who love God. If they have the resources and they don’t, they are the abnormal ones. Not me.”

He said he would also be sending some 30,000 packs of foodstuffs to the Bondoc Peninsula in Quezon province. Help would also be coming for residents of Casiguran and Marinduque.

Aside from food packs, Jimenez was also giving away thousands of rosaries, vials of holy water, and posters of the Divine Mercy.

He deplored politicians who were in Manila debating how to change the Constitution while their constituents were dying and starving in Bicol and other areas. “What destroyed our country is dirty politics,” he said. “And don’t expect me to take part in it. How many politicians have visited this place?” he asked.

Jimenez said he had already visited 37 provinces since he returned to the country in December 2005, and he planned to visit all provinces to share his blessings to those who need them.