Sison: Pag-Ibig, NBI to Continue Helping Globe Asiatique Double Sale Victims – VP Binay

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

VICE President Jejomar C. Binay said the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will continue to assist double sale victims of the Xevera Project in Mabalacat as well as victims of other projects involving Globe Asiatique (GA) and Delfin Lee.

This is despite the fact that RTC Pasig Judge Rolando Mislang already issued a “preliminary injunction” on the ground of prejudicial question preventing the Department of Justice (DOJ) from filing the Information against Delfin Lee in court for syndicated estafa.

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To date, the NBI and Pag-Ibig have assisted twenty-eight (28) individual complainants by helping them file the appropriate criminal complaints before the DOJ against Lee and his cohorts at GA.

Binay said Pag-Ibig had already filed an Omnibus Motion in RTC Pasig in order to intervene in the case, inhibit Judge Mislang and assail the preliminary injunction.

According to the motion, RTC Pasig does not have jurisdiction to hear the case pursuant to the Rules of Court and Judge Mislang is bias in favor of Delfin Lee. Furthermore, Lee is guilty of forum shopping because he already questioned the same prejudicial issue with the DOJ and lost.

"The motion was submitted for resolution on November 9 last year. However, up to this date Judge Mislang has not yet resolved the motion," Binay said.

"This prompted Pag-Ibig to file an Urgent Motion to resolve the pending issues, but to no avail. In addition to the legal moves in RTC Pasig, Pag-Ibig also filed an Administrative Complaint against Judge Mislang before the Supreme Court for rendering the unlawful and unjust order," he added.

For its part, the DOJ assailed the orders of Judge Mislang before the Court of Appeals (CA) by way of the Special Civil Action of Certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court. The DoJ petition is still pending before the CA.

Last year, Pag-Ibig filed a case against Lee for using a "modified ponzi" scheme that defrauded the government of about P6.65 billion. GA allegedly used fictitious buyers to get loans from Pag-IBIG for its Xevera housing project in Pampanga.

According to the investigation by the NBI, GA used fake documents such as TINs, marriage contracts, and identification cards for thousands of ghost buyers for the Xevera project.

The Vice President continuously monitored the development of the Globe Asiatique (GA) case, first uncovered in 2010, and actively pursued the filing of cases against the persons involved in the scam.

In August, the justice department approved the filing of a syndicated estafa case against Lee, his son Dexter and Globe Asiatique officers Christina Sagun and Cristina Salagan, and Pag-ibig Fund lawyer Alex Alvarez.

A month after, Binay held a dialog with GA “double sale” victims and personally updated them on the status of the case. He also instructed Pag-Ibig to file an administrative case against Pasig Regional Trial Court Judge Rolando Mislang before the Supreme Court after the judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) over the syndicated estafa case against Lee.

“Pag-Ibig is funded by contributions from its eight million members. As caretakers of the Fund, we are mandated to protect the integrity of the Fund at all times. In the case against GA, we cannot take the path of least resistance and enter into a compromise when the evidence is clear and unequivocal. That would be tantamount to abandoning our duty to protect the Fund,” Binay said.

Aside from the Xevera housing anomaly, another double sale case against Globe Asiatique was also forwarded to Pag-Ibig for appropriate action. Homeowners at Sta. Barbara Village in San Mateo, Rizal claimed that they were receiving billing statements from Globe Asiatique under different names. Some also complained of being issued fake copies of land titles. Binay ordered Pag-Ibig to study these cases and said that Pag-Ibig would provide legal assistance to the victims regardless of whether or not the agency was involved in the case.