MANILA, Philippines - The Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies chaired by Sen. Sergio Osmeña III is looking into possible collusion between officials of the Pag-IBIG fund and private developer Globe Asiatique in the anomalous Xevera Pampanga housing project.
Osmeña said the committee is still determining the laws violated when the Pag-IBIG board gave Globe Asiatique, owned by trader Delfin Lee, preferential treatment for its housing project.
“The act of giving undue favors to Globe Asiatique was a breach of good management practice. The committee is now looking into the possible collusion of management with and Globe Asiatique officers and bribery of Pag-IBIG officials in defrauding the Fund,” he said.
He said the purpose of the committee hearing is to determine the loopholes in the loan process of Pag-IBIG for the purpose of amending its charter.
“But 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,” Osmeña said.
Osmeña cited the statement of Juanito Eje, vice president of Pag-IBIG’s Wholesale Lending Group, during a recent Senate hearing that Globe Asiatique enjoyed special treatment with a higher funding commitment line of P5 billion. Osmeña said the amount is 10 times higher than the funding given to other housing developers. He noted that other developers who attended the meeting claimed to have availed of only a maximum of P500 million funding line.
Records submitted by Pag-IBIG showed that Globe Asiatique presented fictitious borrowers to avail of millions in loans. A Pag-IBIG official had even testified that Lee’s bad loans had already reached P4 billion.
Osmeña said evidence of fraud against Globe Asiatique is overwhelming, prompting Pag-IBIG to charge them with syndicated estafa.