Hardly had the ink dried on our warning on schemes fleecing Filipinos of their hard-earned bucks, when we hear of some 100 poor Leyte residents victimized by illegal recruiters.

The modern-day con-men gave a flashy address to the unsuspecting provincianos of Burauen Leyte - a class act pre-departure board and lodging hospitality at a Harvard Street in Green Valley Heights in Marikina City. They were promised teaching jobs and hotel employment in Italy, Japan and Hongkong.

There are now a growing number of well-placed professionals in Italy; Japan has opened its doors other than for the infamous Japayukis whose talent fee lay on their abilities in between their sing and dance routine; Hongkong had always been like an extension of Manila with Filipinos crowding the malls, flea markets and parks on Sundays. It was easy marketing sell.

In their desperation over low wages in the Philippines, most of the victims who were teachers and even principals of high schools who were sweet-talked to fork out up to P 13,000 in processing fee or a total of P1.3 million victim fees for just one small town in Leyte.

How many other similar towns in other parts of the country had been victimized?

They arrived the other day at the Manila Domestic Airport supposedly to be met by their recruiters and housed before their final departure. Their destinations turned out to be common for all: Nowhere City in Neverland. And the recruiters: Phantom of the Opera.

The poor victims had to pester their relatives to temporarily house them since they had lost their shirts in terms of the processing fees and airplane fare to Manila. Now they have to borrow money to fly or sail back to Leyte.

We reiterate our plea to fellow Boholanos to stay on guard because while a million Filipinos do make the grade as new OFWs every year, there is a growing sense that a significant many are not able to do because of illegal recruiters. Be not one of them.

But you could be luckier than the hundreds of socialites, men of the world, politicians, showbiz people, military men, sports stars and businessmen who were ripped off their money worth US$250 million (translate: P11 billion) by a foreign exchange trade schemer called Performance Investment Products Corp. which has housed in the plush Citibank building in Makati.

Most of the trade was coursed through a large Dutch offshore banking institution called ABN-AMRO and legitimized by the corporate savvy and pretty good looks of the General Manager Cristina Gonzales-Tuason.

In a matter of days, the owner Singaporean Liew acquired invisible powers and left with nary a trace of his destination - and the whole caboodle of P11 billion with him.

The scheme included a handsome 12% net interest performance of the Fund whose marketability rested on the names among the roster of its "savvy, celebrity" investors.

Some people never learn - or a sucker is really born every minute.

We continue to receive devious and dubious inputs in our computer or cellular phones about having won this and that lottery or this game of chance. All of them are duds or blank bullets, if you are a soldier.

These on top of the residential and condo scams, fake pawnshops with no ground rules and networking galore with outrageous reward schemes based on your ability to con your next neighbor. We should henceforth educate them on the Ninth Commandment: Not to Covet thy Neighbor's Goods.

Meantime, a good advice to all we learned from Grade II: Look before you leap.
The swimming pool may have no water.

NO EXCUSES, RP 5 TEAM

More than half of the nation of 87 million believers in the superiority of Philippine basketball folded their tents and wore ashes on their heads last night (Money) when the strong Jordanian team beat RP 84-76.

RP earlier lost to Iran 75-69 and consoled themselves by beating China (B Team) 79-74 (the first time after 22 years).

Since only two Asian teams would qualify from the Tokushima FIBA to the Beijing Olympics, all this basketball-crazed country's dreams ended in a nightmare.

All this post-game bullshit that we were unnecessarily crowded into a Group of Death featuring three of Asia's four best teams is just that: bullshit. Because we would eventually meet them (Iran and Jordan) anyway down the line. And Iran and Jordan beat us - and there is no room for more than two. So what's the fuss about the Group of Death?

Maybe, not being there would bring RP higher than the best place of 9th for the consolation round playoffs. But going higher than 9th place would nonetheless not bring RP to the Olympics.

Let's be frank and state how we could possibly get there.

RP can never go to the Olympics if we don't develop 6'7 guys with heft who can dribble and shoot - not just rebound. You can have the best point guards in Asia but you can only use one of them usefully at any time inside the court. And the goal is vertical - the taller and heftier ones with brains will have the edge.

RP can never go to the Olympics with the attitudes of these too highly-paid, prima donna basketball stars of the PBA who have fame and fortune solely on their minds.

Except for the gutsy plays of Williams, Alapag, Caguioa, Raymundo, Taulava and Hontiveros - many of them played as if they were afraid to get hurt. Maybe they should try ballet dancing lessons.

Watching them play reminded us of the absence of players who appeared willing to engage the enemy as gladiators in the arena like Ed Ocampo, Tembong Melencio, Carlos Badion and Robert Jaworski, if you insist.

RP will never go to the Olympics if we don't have a rigid physical training program to stretch the limits of these cage millionaires who seemed fagged out in Japan after a series of games and had physical injuries during the games.

RP will never go to the Olympics if we don't develop a lethal, deadly team who can all shoot three pointers. Because of our relatively small size, that is the only way to beat a stratospheric team - three points for their two points inside the paint. We remember Korea upset mighty China for the Asian championships not too long ago by scoring more three point shots than two point shots. Korea beat China by one point.

Enough of arm chair analysis and let's get on with a program to win the ABC (Asian Basketball Conference) title two years from now.

The Olympic slot will just fall in place.