In April 2010, Philippine Senator and businessman Manuel Villar Jr. was convicted of a land scam in Norzagaray. Capitol Development Bank (now Optimum Development Bank) and Villar’s company, Manila Brickworks, recently acquired possession of the ancestral lands in the mountains of Norzagaray, a municipality in Bulacan, Philippines. The farmers of Norzagaray were infuriated when court records showed that the ancestral lands became possessions of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas(BSP). Manuel Villar’s wife, congresswoman Cynthia Villar of Capitol Bank, had executed the mortgage of the land in favor of BSP and the Villars used Fake Transfer Certificates of Titles(TCTs) to obtain the lands in Norzagaray.
From a business viewpoint, the ethical concern here is that the Villars are interlocking directors of two companies, Capitol Bank and Manila Brickworks. They not only exploited their internal relations but also faked land transfer certificates to claim land that they do not legally and rightfully own. According to Milton Friedman, “there is one and only one social responsibility of business… to engage in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” The Villars have committed fraud through their abuse of corporate conduct and manipulation of legal documents, thus proving them guilty of violation of business ethics.
Original Article:
Milton Friedman:
http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html