VP Binay Hails Court of Appeals Too Soon for the Globe Asiatique Case

Vice President Jejomar Binay may have hailed the Court of Appeals too soon for decision that allows the filing of syndicated estafa charges against businessman Delfin Lee and other executives of housing firm Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp.

A blogger known only as Antony apparently published information showing that the lawyers of Lee filed on Tuesday April  24, a petition with the Supreme Court asking it to issue an ex-parte temporary restraining order (TRO) directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to cease and desist from filing the syndicated estafa case against him and the other respondents.

In the scanned copy of the petition for TRO filed at the Supreme Court, it states:

Lee’s lawyers said the CA also erred when it ruled that there was grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of the Pasig RTC Branch 167. 

They added that the CA was mistaken when it ruled that there is no prejudicial question in theMakaticivil case filed by Globe Asiatique against HMDF in relation to the first and second criminal complaints pending with the DOJ. 

They said a requisite common to the writs of certiorari, prohibition and mandamus is that these writs may be availed of only if there is no appeal or any plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law from the acts of the respondents. 

“In the injunction case with RTC Pasig 167, not only was there a plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law, but respondent DOJ actually availed of the same,” they said. 

The petition for certiorari also violated Rule 46, Section 3 of the Rules of Court which provides that “the petition shall contain the full names and actual addresses of all the petitioners and respondents, a concise statement of the matters involved, the factual background of the case, and the ground relied upon for the relief prayed for.” 

However, when the DOJ filed its petition for certiorari with the CA, it failed to indicate the material dates when the motion for reconsideration and its comment was filed with RTC Pasig 167. “As stated above, this is a sufficient ground for the dismissal of the Petition,” Lee’s lawyers said.

Former VP De Castro: Globe Asiatique in the clear, NO PHONY BORROWERS

And so, now it becomes apparent that Philippine Daily Inquirer TWISTED facts. What a SHAME!

Noli virtually clears Globe Asiatique in housing loan scam

(The Philippine Star) 

Updated September 07, 2010, 12:00 AM Comments (2)

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=609671&publicationSubCategoryId=66

MANILA, Philippines - Former Vice President Noli de Castro, who was former Housing and UrbanDevelopment Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman, has practically cleared Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. and blamed the Pampanga office of Pag-IBIG Fund for the alleged bogus loan borrowers.

De Castro, who was also former chairman of Pag-IBIG Fund (Home Development Mutual Fund), in a radio interview with dzRH’s, clarified there were no phony borrowers, but applicants who have not completed all the requirements but were qualified to get housing loans in Pampanga.

He said he ordered an investigation into this in Pag-IBIG Pampanga last March, noting that these applicants with incomplete papers might have availed themselves of loans for housing units in Pampanga not just of Globe Asiatique but also of other realty developers.

De Castro said the inquiry got nowhere because of the elections but he tried to keep in touch with officials of Pag-IBIG Fund about the problem even after the new administration took over.

He said that the problem might have arisen because of the directive of then President Arroyo to avoid red tape, resulting in the reduction and the loosening of requirements to avoid graft and corruption and fasttrack solution to the housing backlog.

De Castro volunteered to testify in the proposed House inquiry and to meet with Vice President Jojo Binay, the incumbent HUDCC chairman, so he can explain how one becomes a Pag-IBIG member, how one gets qualified to get housing loan, and how this problem could have arisen.

He noted that Globe Asiatique, just like any private national shelter partner, merely processes housing applications based on certification issued by Pag-IBIG Fund. In the case of Globe Asiatique, it has already built all the housing units using its own funds before they were sold to Pag-IBIG members.

De Castro said there were instances when some loan borrowers fail to pay their loan amortization but Pag-IBIG tried to understand their financial plight and made arrangements with the developers so that they were eventually settled.

He stressed that all housing developers issue a two-year buy-back guarantee, with Globe Asiatique even giving a five-year guarantee, making sure that the money of Pag-IBIG members and of the government is safe and protected.

De Castro said Pag-IBIG Fund has allowed the so-called non-formally employed, like the self-employed market vendors and the overseas workers, even during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos, but this was made into a law recently and is availed of, not just by Globe Asiatique, but also by other developers.

He decried the sensationalized media reports, which he said, will only destroy good working relations of Pag-IBIG Fund with housing developers, including Globe Asiatique, and this will cause a setback in the government’s effort to provide affordable housing.