By ROGER M. BALANZA

Davao del Norte Gvernor. Edwin Jubahib has made himself a potential star witness in the search for the brains behind the multi-million peso investment scam with his admission he knew the top man behind the racket.

In a recent interview, Jubahib denied any link to the racket but admitted he knew the leader of the scam.

“Klaro kaayo nga wala koy nakwarta ana bisag piso. Hinoon kaila nako ang leader sa Tagum (It is very clear I did not earn even a peso from the scam. But I know the leader of the scam in Tagum),” Jubahib said.

Copycats of the infamous investment scammer Kabus Padatoon (KAPA) , dozens of unlicensed investment outfits based in Tagum City lured thousands of investors to part with their money with promise of monthly interest on investment of up to 40 percent.

Issued permits by City Mayor Alan Rellon, the racketeers operated up to early 2019 towards the May election. Earlier on, KAPA head Joel Apolinario would be arrested based on charges of multiple estafa filed by investors and by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for lack of license.

The SEC also hounded the Tagum City outfits sending their executives to flee as the fraudulent scheme fouled up with investors demanding payment of promised interest or return of their investment.

Read More: WHO ARE THE PEOPLE BEHIND INVESTMENT SCAMMER RIGEN MARKETING?

At the center of the scandal was Rigen Marketing, the biggest of the scammers suspected to be operated by politicians, whose stockpile of millions of pesos of investments was reported to have been used during the election campaign.

The investment scandal is a hot political issue for the May polls, but the three-pronged investigation — by Congress, the Davao del Norte Provincial Board and the City Government of Tagum — with Jubahib as the star based on his admission may only be conducted after the election, in case of change in political leadership in Davao del Norte.

In the 2019 election, the administration Hugpong Ng Pagbabago of vice presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte lost in almost all the races reportedly due to massive vote-buying by the opposition with funds funelled from the investments.

Former bus conductor Jubahib, a government public works contractor and chief aide of former House Speaker First District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez won the gubernatorial race under the banner of the Alvarez Wing of the PDP-Laban.

Alvarez, who had resigned as secretary general of the PDP-Laban chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte, now heads the revived Partido Reporma, and has organized a Reporma slate in Davao del Norte against the HNP.

Smarting from the 2019 debacle, HNP is on a revenge mode and Jubalib could lead the trail to the doorstep of politicians behind the massive fraud that was the investment scam that stole hundreds of millions of pesos from duped investors.

Itching to place Jubahib on the chopping block for the governor to squell on the identity of the brain or brains behind the racket or refute his link to the scam are candidates in the May 9 polling of the HNP. READ MORE