Silver(io) houses for the price of gold

Two Silverio houses located in Urdaneta Village and North Forbes have been sold to Chemphil chairman Antonio “Tony”Garcia and Iñigo Zobel, respectively, but the long-running legal battle between Ricardo “Ricky” Silverio Jr. and his father, former Bulacan mayor Ricardo “Carding” Silverio Sr. continues. The tug-of-war has grown even more bitter over the years. In January 2006, a SWAT team and members of then Bulacan Mayor Carding’s security detail swooped down on the Urdaneta residence while Ricky Jr. and his children were inside. It would seem however that the disputed residence is actually owned by Pilipinas Development Corp. (PDC) with several court-decisions affirming Ricky Jr. to be the majority shareholder. As such, he can continue his functions and responsibilities as majority-owner until the said court decisions are overturned by the Court of Appeals (CA).

The elder Silverio sued his son in 2004 for allegedly stealing the stock certificates and transfer books of PDC – an accusation that was dismissed by the Courts. As a matter of fact, the CA categorically declared that from 1990 to 2004, Ricardo Sr. was not a stockholder of PDC based on several documents plus the fact that Carding, having been a mayor then, failed to declare such information in his sworn Statement of Assets and Liabilities. It was the PDC (through a valid authority given to Ricky Jr.) that sold the Urdaneta Village property to 3G Holdings where Tony Garcia (also known as AMG) is part owner. Mayor Carding filed a case to have the sale nullified and cancel 3G Holdings’ title but this was dismissed by a Makati RTC, reiterating that Ricardo Sr. was not a stockholder of PDC and therefore not the proper party to file the said case with the former Bulacan mayor’s Motion for Reconsideration still pending before the court.

 Earlier this year, the elder Silverio’s former secretary and now third wife Lorna Cillan filed a complaint against her stepson, with the Malolos RTC basing her complaint on a decision rendered by another court that ruled her as majority owner of PDC as reflected in the 2003 General Information Sheet that she and her husband filed. The Malolos court however dismissed Cillan’s complaint after taking notice of the pendency of cases involving PDC.  

Reliable Spy Bits sources also belied reports claiming that AMG had managed to borrow a loan from Banco de Oro by pledging the Urdaneta Village property despite the fact that the title was still in the name of PDC. Considering the strict due diligence of a giant bank like Banco de Oro, it would have been impossible or even preposterous for BDO to grant a loan to 3G Holdings, with the Urdaneta property as security, if the title was indeed under the name of PDC, they point out. 

 This long-standing Silverio saga is just one more typical story of families whose enormous wealth is being dissipated due to the patriarch having too many families. In the case of Ricky Jr., he says his main reason for fighting his father is purely sentimental especially with respect to the Urdaneta Village property because it was owned by his mother Beatriz Sison (not Dela Merced as erroneously reported) who died without leaving any will. Tony Garcia has been helping Ricky Jr. and those who are very familiar with both of them say they are not only polo buddies but long time personal friends, with the younger Silverio looking up to Garcia as the older brother he never had.

As for the Silverio property located in North Forbes, Iñigo Zobel has already given notice through the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Turkish Embassy has to vacate the property by the end of this year. Actually, the Embassy is holding its last celebration of Turkey’s Republic Day on Oct. 28 at the multimillion-peso mansion. The polo playing Iñigo specifically chose the super prime property because of its location in Cambridge Circle with its back facing the 18^th hole of Manila Golf. Rumors have it that PLDT boss Manny Pangilinan was actually interested in the same North Forbes property but when he found out that his neighbor was going to be Iñigo’s cousin, Jaime Augusto Zobel, he backed out and opted for a property in South Forbes instead.

 Iñigo had paid a good price for the 4,500-square meter Silverio property at P200 million cash considering that real estate prices in the tony subdivision have skyrocketed over the years, with a house and lot measuring 10,000-square meters now able to fetch as much as one billion pesos today. The Silverio houses have become even more precious than silver with triple the price of gold.

Spy tidbit

–– Jaime Dichaves, a close personal friend and crony of former president Joseph Estrada, is back in Manila after having been in exile since January 2001. Dichaves, whose arrest warrant has been lifted by the Sandiganbayan a week ago, was Erap’s connection to the vote-rich Iglesia ni Cristo.

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