[ sunstar.com.ph ] November 16, 2008
CEBU CITY -- Former senator John Henry "Sonny" Osmeña confirmed Saturday that the title of the ancestral house of Representative Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) in Mandaue City has already been transferred to his name.
Soon-Ruiz allegedly failed to redeem the property she mortgaged to Osmeña as security for the payment of a loan worth P8 million.
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The dues reportedly have reached P47 million, including penalties and bank interests.
The amount was used to fund the candidacy of Soon-Ruiz when she ran against former mayor Thadeo Ouano in 1998.
Sun.Star Cebu called lawyer Gonzalo Malig-on, Soon-Ruiz's chief of staff, for the congresswoman's comment but he said they would just answer the issue in a proper forum.
The local bank reportedly foreclosed Soon-Ruiz's property and the property's title was transferred to Osmeña's name last February 16.
"The title of the house and lot of Nerissa where her mother lives is already in my name," Osmeña told radio dyLA Saturday.
Osmeña said Soon-Ruiz has only a year to redeem their property, which is situated in Barangay Alang-Alang, Mandaue City.
Osmeña said he only asked Soon-Ruiz to pay him P12 million when they met at a hotel.
But Soon-Ruiz reportedly asked to pay her dues on installment, which Osmeña refused.
"If she pays me what she owes me on the 15th of February 2009, she can redeem it (property)," Osmena said.
The former senator said he had been demanding for Soon-Ruiz to pay the loan but the latter allegedly failed to do so.
Soon-Ruiz earlier explained that the debt Osmeña was referring to was what the former senator paid to redeem her parents' property, which was then mortgaged to a local bank.
She earlier said Osmeña made the offer in 2001 when the former senator asked her to run for congress but she refused because she was still heavily in debt after losing to Ouano in 1998.
However, Osmeña told her not to worry because he would take care of it.
Osmeña personally went to the bank and made the payment.
Soon-Ruiz said she and her mother were made to sign some documents concerning the supposed loan because she was told that this was just Osmeña's policy and he would not collect it anyway.
She had thought it was indeed "gratis" because Osmeña never asked for his money back until recently.
Soon-Ruiz suspected that this was due to her failure to support the "Sugbuak" and the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo.
But Osmeña said their falling out started even before the 2004 elections because Soon-Ruiz just campaigned for herself and did not support him.
Meanwhile, despite the continued denial of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia that she would run for a higher office, Osmeña stood firm on his belief that the latter will seek a higher post in the 2010 polls, citing the governor's various sorties in different provinces in the country. (GMD of Sun.Star Cebu)
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