http://ibvallejo.com Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:30:44 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10605 By the way, this article also appears in www.income-tacts.com, a Philippine based financial forum where I\'ve been a \"subject matter expert\" since its inception. I am aware of several victims from China, Korea, Canada, the US, and of course the Philippines. Hopefully this will help expose the \"modus operandi\" of these affinity scammers and will prevent more innocent people from being victimized in the future. Jim Sarmiento Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:22:09 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10623 Just in case regular readers, here, can\'t intuit what is the tie-in of this article with other things written on this web site... ...please see the articles here about a slimy and nefarious thing called the \"H. Martin Foundation,\" and its attempts to get some kind of foothold in Vallejo via its highly questionable association with this city\'s GLOBAL CENTER FOR SUCCESS on Mare Island, headed-up by REV REY BERNARDES, who is pastor of Mare Island\'s conservative LORD\'S FELLOWSHIP CHURCH. The further/upcoming articles referred to in the intro to this article, above, regarding fraud such as this being committed right here in Vallejo will, I\'ll bet, have a lot to do with Rev Bernardes and his far, far deeper involvement with the H. Martin Foundation than he seems willing to admit. Stay tuned. Omniscient Observer Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:08:26 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10634 As a news reporter, I believe in balance reporting. I know Mr. Jimmy Sarmiento, personally he is my friend. I respect his opinion, sad to say however he is a \"one tracked mind\" person. I have to correct Mr. Sarmiento for the benefit of your readers. The fact is these scams is prevalent in many other countries. NOT ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES. By singling out the Philippines, I am not sure if his assumptions are credible... My Filipino American friend indicated that some Filipinos have \"I\" defects. Mr. Jimmy Sarmiento is one of them. When Mr. Jimmy Sarmiento starts saying \"I am an expert about this and that am a certified something...\" I tremble... Please note how many times Mr. Sarmiento said \"I\"... Wow!!! With many GLOWING certifications...he must be believable! If Mr. Garman will allow me, I would like to defend my brother in law, Pastor Rey Bernardes. You know I visited the Global Success every Thursday to volunteer and noticed how this nonprofit is hit hard by this recession. Sometimes, they do not even have paper or ink for their printers or copiers, even styrofoam cups, I have to bring my own water...But they are dedicated to serve the homeless population in this city. Whatever it takes, they are doing the job. They are delivering the service for these needy people. Now, to the many critics, even to Mr. Sarmiento what have you done to help the poor and needy in this city? If you are a financial expert as you claim, maybe the Global Center for Success might need you as a volunteer, so they can get funding. So far Mr. Sarmiento and the critics have not offered any help rather they intend instead to destroy and belittle Rev. Bernardes. I challenge the critics of Pastor Rey, what can you offer to help? Eduardo Yra Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:40:41 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10635 Eduardo Your relationship to Pastor Bernardes seems to have clouded your judgement. 1) some countries like Nigeria and Philipines are renown for their corruption and scams. 2) No mention was made about your brother in law yet you felt the need to defend him. Is that because he is still willing to deal with a disreputable organization even when people have tried to warn him. 3) What VIB is trying to do is protect the Citizens of Vallejo from some horrible scams. I am NOT Paranoid Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:37:32 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10636 To Eduardo Yra: You are among the *LAST* persons who have the right to question the author of this article about his journalistic ethics. You wrote an article about the Bernardes\'s and their GLOBAL CENTER FOR SUCCESS\'s relationship with the H. Martin Foundation in a Filipino publication; and you did so without disclosing your personal/familial relationship with the Bernardeses. For the benefit of the reader, Mrs. Bernardes goes by \"Eva Yra Bernardes\" on her business card. Filipino females commonly use their maiden surnames as their middle names once married. Do the math. Now, here, on this page, you are unambiguous about your being Pastor Bernardes\'s brother in law, but you were not in the article to which I refer in the previous paragraphs. That speaks VOLUMES about your journalistic integrity... or lack thereof, in this case. We have a word in English: Recuse. I don\'t know if there\'s a Tagalog equivalent which conveys precisely the same thing, including all intended subtleties and nuance, which is meant to be conveyed by the English word \"recuse,\" but whether there is or isn\'t, it is clear that you do not truly understand that English word, and why it\'s important in your case, given your close familial relationship with the subjects of your article. You should have recused yourself from having anything to do with an article published in the newspaper for which yo work so that you could avoid the appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest. Journalistic ethics actually MEANS something in the United States. How sad that it seems to mean nothing to you. Your taking personal swipes at the author of this article just because he has credentials which do, in fact, speak to his credibility illustrates further your lack of objectivity and fair-mindedness. How many times he wrote the word \"I\" makes not whit of difference to the credibility of what he wrote. As is typical of those of your mindset (Republicans, previously-Marcos-supporting Filipinos, etc.), the only thing you know how to resort to when you have nothing substantive with which to rebut is personal attack. Shame on you! You may counter (and I anticipate you will) that I have attacked you, but in order to make that argument, you have to ignore that I, in fact, have something substantive with which to rebut you... starting with your failure to disclose your familial relationship with the subject of your article in the Filipino publication. Shame on you, again. Furthermore, for you to pretend that what the author of this article is writing about is not true is just folly. Only someone with skin in the game (and who\'s got a vested interest in the work of the sammers) would even bother to deny what every Filipino who reads the article on this page knows is true. Do you have skin in that game, Mr. Yro? Hmmm? Next, you cite the poor financial condition and neediness of the Global Center for Success. And I don\'t doubt that it is underfunded. Every non-profit is these days. However, that the organization is in greater need than ever before, and that that is something for which we all may rightly feel sorry and bad, that does not somehow give the organization and its founder a pass to exercise bad judgement. And that\'s the problem which you and Pastor Bernardes seem unable and/or unwilling to grasp: It doesn\'t matter how many people the good Pastor has helped, or how much good his organization has done for the community. That doesn\'t give either him or it a pass to allow it or him to come down on the wrong side of the H. Martin Foundation controversy. The organization\'s needs, and it and its founder\'s record of good works, does not mean that thinking Americans are going to just ignore that incontrovertible facts that the H. Martin Foundation is a scam, and Pastor Bernardes is refusing to either see and/or acknowledge it. And so, when the facts begin to really and truly come out, as they\'re about to on this very web site in the coming weeks, Pastor Bernardes is going to get some of the H. Martin Foundation\'s slime on him. And that will hurt him in this community; and that will be sad. All he has to do, right now, before it all comes out, is stand up and say that he was duped, and now he gets it. He has garnered enough respect in this community to be forgiven for almost falling for the H. Martin Foundation\'s smooth line. They are, after all, highly sophisticated con artists. Even smart people like Pastor Bernardes can be fooled. All he has to do, before it\'s too late, is step up and admit that that\'s what happened to him. If he doesn\'t, as many people have warned him will happen, he may very well go down with the H. Martin Foundation in the coming weeks as the unbelievably good and credible information which this web site has put together about how truly bad are these con artists is finally revealed here. And, by the way, MANY of the people who are finding fault with the H. Martin Fondation and Pastor Bernardes\'s involvement with it routinely help the homeless. I, for one, have earned my stripes many times over. If you only knew who I am and what I do. You are in no position, sir, to challenge at least what *I* do to help the homeless. Tell your brother-in-law that a freight train which he could never have imagined possible from this tiny little web site is about to hit him broadside. If he intends not to be mowed-down by it, then I suggest he step up, before it\'s too late, and disavow his affiliation with the H. Martin Foundation. Otherwise, he will deserve everything he\'s about to get. Omniscient Observer Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:16:24 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10637 They have an old saying in Spain, “Quien se pica, ajos come”. Rough translation, if your mouth feels hot, you must have eaten garlic. English speakers often express the same sentiment through the idiom, “If the shoe fits, wear it.” Nowhere in this article did I mention the Global Center for Success or the Rev. Rey Bernardes. Please cite to me , where in this article is there intent to “destroy and belittle Rev. Bernardes” ? Has the “modus operandi” of the scammers as described in the article hit a raw nerve out there? As mentioned in the Editor’s note prefacing the article, this is a primer of common types of financial fraud largely originating in the Philippines. It aims to show the historical origins of the “lost treasure” scams, which pretty much focuses around the Japanese occupation of Southeast Asia, the “Yamashita Gold” that was transported northwards towards Japan but got “lost” in the Philippines, and how this has become an accepted fact among Filipinos. It’s focus is the Philippines! It is not an attempt to disparage the Philippines or the Filipino people in general. I don’t understand Mr. Yra’s comment that “singling out the Philippines” makes my “assumptions” less credible. Truth be told, there are few, if any, assumptions here. My sources include personal experience (hence the first person “I” which makes Mr. Yra tremble) newspaper articles which are of public record, and lots of basic research. Frankly, I’m shocked at my friend, Ed Yra’s ad hominem argument. Reminds me of an old legal adage, “If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither on your side, pound the table.” Let me briefly address the “expert” comment. The www.income-tacts.com is a website created for the purpose of elevating financial literacy in the Philippines, something that is badly needed in this developing country. The founders sought my help, and I have been involved in promoting its mission since its inception. It has a “Finance Forum”, and an “Experts Forum”. The Experts Forum has a panel of 6 subject matter experts in their respective professional fields. There are two attorneys, two Registered Financial Planners®, a Certified Financial Planner™ (yours truly), an entrepreneur, and a life and career coach. It is what it is, facts are facts. Can’t recall saying anywhere that “I am an expert about this and that I am a certified something…” ,as Mr. Yra accuses me of saying. Maybe he got it from the byline? I worked hard to earn my CFP® designation, specifically, two years of study and a two-day board administered comprehensive exam, plus continuing education requirements. It wasn’t bought on the internet. I’m a retired Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). I used to work for the Pacific Stock Exchange as an Internal Auditor. It is what it is, facts are facts. Jim Sarmiento Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:58:53 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10638 This VIB site was dead last weekend, now, fireworks! Don\'t blink, you might miss something, huh? Omniscient Observer, dude, I had to look up what omniscient means, thank goodness for Wikipedia. Now you\'ve added another word to my limited vocabulary. The Tagalog word you\'re looking for, the equivalent of \"recuse\", I think the closest one in this context is DELICADEZA. I know, it\'s Spanish in origin, but it\'s often used in the Philippines to describe your meaning. http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=561&Itemid=1 Above link is to the article Lies of Legendary Magnitude II. Check out and re-read the comments of writer EMY, who later admitted to be Eduardo M. Yra. He seems to be playing the race card here again. Now that we know that he is also the brother-in-law of Rev. Bernardes, should we accept his assertion back then that he is just an unbiased reporter? Delicadeza? INCONCEIVABLE! Inigo Montoya Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:34:17 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc10669 Thank you Mr. Sarmiento for the very interesting article. Hopefully the message will reach those who may fall prey to scammers. These type of people come from all over and they need to be exposed no matter what country they are from. Preditors are preditors and don\'t care who they cheat. Again, thank you for the work you put into the article. On Fire Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:42:12 +0100 http://ibvallejo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=648#josc11696 I am amazed by this topic. I hope gulible people dont get swindled and thrown in jail just for the chance to become rich over treasure thats not real. i hope my children nathan raymaon charles dygert aka. nathan timmerman and ciara ester marie dygert aka. ciara timmerman dont get in trouble over looking for treasures that arent real. I hope they would talk to me about it first. dathan charles dygert Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:03:47 +0100