Sunday, February 15, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Ben O. Tesiorna
FRAUDULENT practices of low-cost housing developers in Davao City is behind the problems now faced by around 6,000 homeowners who are facing foreclosure by the Balikatan Financing Services Inc. (BFSI), Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte said.
Duterte has continued his rant Sunday against Balikatan, which has been threatening the homeowners with eviction because they have not paid their amortization.
Valentine's 2009 blog
"Balikatan issue is a non-issue as far as I am concerned because from the very beginning, there was fraud in the contract because the developers constructed substandard houses," Duterte said in his television program Sunday.
The mayor said he will turn his back on these developers, some of whom are his friends, as he firmly believes the homeowners who now stand to lose their shelter were just victimized by the unscrupulous developers.
"When things come to a head. Nahibawo namo asa ko [You know where I stand]. Nothing personal," Duterte told the developers.
Duterte said what Balikatan can do is dissolve the homeowners' arrears since there was fraud in the agreement since day one.
"Tablahon na lang una na. Para di magsanga-sanga ang problema [Let's level the playing field so as not to complicate the problem]," he said.
He reiterated his advice for homeowners to resist foreclosures of their houses in a legal way.
"Go into a mass demonstration and go to the courts and ask for relief if your house is foreclosed. We should go up to the SC because there was fraud right from the start. Resist legally and exhaust all the means legally. Let us solve things legally," the mayor said.
Duterte warned that if nothing is done about this, it will not be unthinkable if some will resort to desperate means.
"Asa man padulong ang mga tawo. Gusto ninyo adto sila sa NPA [New People's Army]? Makakita man sila'g hustisya didto. Tapos mukatay sila ug developer [Where else will the people go? You want them to reach out to the NPA? There they can get justice, and even have some developers slaughtered]," Duterte said.
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