MABALACAT CITY -- Vice President Jejomar Binay said captured Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee should be moved to a cell in an ordinary provincial jail and not be given special treatment.
"The arrest of Delfin Lee is the first step for all Pag-Ibig Fund (Home Development Mutual Fund) members and thousands of victims of double sale in attaining justice. Now, we must apply the rule of law and not give special treatment to the accused. Lee should be put in an ordinary provincial jail just like any accused," Binay said.
"Pantay-pantay dapat ang trato sa akusado, mayaman man o mahirap. Dapat walang special treatment sa mayaman," he added.
Lee was brought to Camp Crame for a medical checkup after his arrest in a hotel Thursday night.
On Friday morning, he was brought to a Pampanga Regional Trial Court branch that issued the arrest warrant against him.
He is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation office in the City of San Fernando.
Binay, chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and chairman of the Pag-Ibig Fund Board of Trustees, ordered the filing of syndicated estafa charges against Lee and several Globe Asiatique officials in December 2010.
This was after an investigation ordered by Binay revealing that Lee allegedly used fake documents and ghost borrowers who supposedly bought homes in Globe Asiatique's Xevera housing project in Mabalacat, Pampanga, to secure some P7 billion in loans from Pag-Ibig Fund.
"Ang kaso laban kay Lee ang kauna-unahang kaso na isinampa sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Aquino na bahagi ng kampanya tungo sa reporma sa gobyerno at laban sa katiwalian. Ito'y pagpapatunay na kami sa sector ng pabahay ay ganap na tumatalima at sumusuporta sa layunin ng hayag, tapat at malinis na pamamahala," Binay said.
President Benigno Aquino III previously set a P2-million reward for information leading to Lee's arrest.