SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – A group of businessmen have exposed the alleged modus operandi of a Zambales trader who convinced them to provide funds for alleged bidding for government projects amounting to P66 million but their money was not returned.
The complaint was made public during a press conference held at a restaurant in Subic Bay Freeport where the six victims presented their appeal for the return of their money as well as the public exposure of what they said was the style of money-taking so that they would not be victimized again.
Also included in their complaint were the alleged issuance of checks that they allegedly discovered were “old, void of funds that were refused for deposit in the bank.”
According to Theresa Tenazas, in October 2021, she met a Ramon Fernandez who introduced himself as being in the trading business in public bidding and procurement projects in local government units (LGU) in the provinces of Zambales and Bataan.
He allegedly introduced himself as a supplier of essential goods such as rice, canned goods, sugar and other basic goods needed by LGU relief and assistance programs.
Due to the Notice of Award and Notice to Proceed or Purchase Order shown, Tenazas was convinced to contribute funds for Fernandez’s project.
Initially, Tenazas gave 500,000 pesos in December 2022, and also because of persistent convincing, he contributed again which has reached the amount of P5,200,000.00.
Fernandez promised to return the money contributed within two to three months once the project was charged. He also promised that if the money was not returned, he would give 5% as interest as compensation for the delay until the money was returned.
In April 2023, on the advice of his husband, Tenazas decided to withdraw the money she had entrusted to Fernandez. He was given six months or until October 2023 to return the entire amount she contributed.
In October 2023, he allegedly gave P1,000,000.00 as a partial amount and promised to pay when a “big project” was completed in December 2023, which allegedly required a large amount of funds.
Even the promise of 5% interest on his money was delayed and in April 2024, he was unable to send payment at all, instead all he was telling them was a promise until June 2025. On February 21, 2025, Tenazas and other contributors to Fernandez’s project met again at a coffee shop in Quezon City, where the latter promised to pay them again, saying that once his loan from Landbank was released, he would return their contributions in full.
He also allegedly issued several post-dated Metrobank checks, including one for P4,500,000.00 to Tenazas dated March 15, 2025. However, when she allegedly presented it to the bank, it was returned marked ‘Account Closed.’
In the notarized Affidavit-Complaint of Annabella Rivera, a resident of Quezon City, she met Fernandez through a friend. She said she entrusted him with the money amounting to P26,850,000.00 which they agreed to use to acquire projects from LGUs and other government agencies in Olongapo and Zambales.
Rivera further said that she and Fernandez agreed to borrow the money taken from her in 2023 for only two months but said the due date came and he again asked for an extension until the end of the year so that he could still get the Christmas Package projects.
In the Sworn Affidavit of Jonalyn Ynares, a resident of Caloocan City North, in April 2024 they decided to sell their lot in Crosswinds Subdivision in Tagaytay City to Fernandez and his wife.
The couple allegedly negotiated to borrow the title to get a loan from the bank to pay for the lot for P9,000,000.00. She agreed to lend the title based on the agreement for only three months.
To date, the agreement has not been fulfilled and the said title has not been returned.
Her compatriot and classmate Maricel Basa Narra from Sta. Cruz, Zambales also said that she was encouraged to contribute to his project.
On July 2024 when Narra was encouraged to fund a project in Morong, Bataan where Fernandez allegedly showed a copy of the Purchase Order and Nototice of Award.
She allegedly helped his with the project by promising to pay but he did not fulfill it.
On November 2024 when Fernandez gave them a project at the DTI and SBMA funded by Narra and Rivera. Fernandez allegedly said that these were still to be charged to SBMA but when Narra did some research, he found out that they had all been paid as early as January 20, 2025 and May 9, 2025.
This led to Rivera deciding to file a case against Fernandez.
On April 22, 2025, the nine complainants against Fernandez went together to the Barangay Hall of San Isidro, Subic, Zambales, where they were given a certification to file a complaint directly in court.
“We just want our money entrusted to him to be returned because we are small people who do not want to lose our savings for a long time. We also want the public to know about these modus operandi so that it does not spread further,” said Tenazas.
Attempts were made to get Fernandez’s side through text messages and phone calls but there was no response from him.