By Angie M. Rosales
12/16/2010 [ tribune.net.ph ]
Senate probers hinted at possible liability of top officials of Home Mutual Development Fund (Pag-IBIG) in the multibillion-peso housing mess with Globe Asiatique Realty Corp.
Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, chairman of the committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, said axe will likely fall on the board of trustees of Pag-IBIG at the time of the supposed transaction and former Vice President Noli de Castro will not be spared, if proven that he was at the helm of the project then.
As the panel wrapped up its inquiry into the case and take up remaining matters in a series of technical working group (TWG) before the committee prepares its report, Osmeña said those to be held accountable are those “at the policy and operational level” of Pag-IBIG.
“At the policy level, the board of trustees (will likely be held responsible) because they opened a new lending window for GA and this information was held from the other interested parties.
“Also, they relaxed some of the requirements. They did not even impose the requirements on validation,” he said in an interview with reporters.
Asked if liability of officials could get to the top, which means De Castro being held accountable in the end, Osmeña answered in the affirmative.
“Everybody who’s on the board and if Noli (De Castro) is on the board, then (the answer is) yes. He is open to being questioned. That’s the reason why we invited him here (in the hearings),” he said.
He debunked news reports that the committee had cleared businessman Delfin Lee’s Globe Asiatique in relation to it’s liability in the housing irregularity.
“We never cleared Globe Asiatique or any of its officers. They are being charged with syndicated estafa by the Pag-IBIG. The evidence of fraud is overwhelming,” he stressed, citing Pag-IBIG records that fictitious borrowers were submitted by Globe Asiatique to avail of millions of pesos of fund loans. A Pag-IBIG official indicated that Lee’s bad loans had already reached P4 billion.
Also, Osmeña said the committee has yet to determine what other laws were violated when officials and members of the board of the Pag-IBIG gave Globe Asiatique preferential treatment for its Xevera Pampanga housing project.
He noted the admission of Juanito Eje, vice president of Pag-IBIG’s Wholesale Lending Group, during last Thursday’s committee hearing that Globe Asiatique enjoyed special treatment — such as a higher funding commitment line of P5 billion, which is ten times higher than normal, and exemptions from requirements under Pag-IBIG Circular 259, all of which were not made available to other housing developers.
Small housing developers who also attended the hearing confirmed they could only avail a maximum of P500 million funding. They were not informed that Pag-IBIG had made available to Globe Asiatique a funding that was 10 times bigger than the funding commitment line for housing.
“This is a breach of good management practice. The committee will check into collusion with and bribery of certain Pag-IBIG officials in defrauding the Fund,” the senator said.
Osmeña reiterated that the purpose of the Senate committee hearing is to improve the process and plug the loopholes in the loan activities of Pag-IBIG by amending its charter.
However, he said: “If the committee finds any violation of criminal laws, it would not hesitate to recommend to the proper bodies the prosecution of those criminally liable.”
________________________________________________________________
