THE GENERAL Santos (GenSan) City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. has appealed to President Rodrigo R. Duterte to help put a stop to illegal investment schemes that have been proliferating in the city and surrounding provinces. In a letter dated Jan. 21, the business group, through its president, Elmer V. Catulpos, said the Ponzi-like schemes pose a serious threat to the local economy. “Bankers in Gensan have already noted drastic withdrawals by depositors as many residents go crazy in investing on Kapa (Kabus Padatuon), Almamico (Alabel Maasim Small Scale Mining Cooperative), AlamCco (Alabel Maasim Credit Cooperative), and other groups representing themselves as legitimate religious ministries and government-accredited cooperatives out to liberate people from financial miseries,” Mr. Catulpos said in the letter. Mr. Catulpos said the “huge sums of money taken out from banks and from natural money circulation becomes uncontrollable and can cause huge financial and economic damage to our locality and to the country’s economy.”