Pasig judge defends orders in Asiatique case

MANILA, Philippines - Pasig City Judge Rolando Mislang has broken his silence and defended before the Supreme Court his orders stopping the indictment of executives and officers of housing developer Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. (GA) in connection with its allegedly anomalous housing projects in Pampanga.

In a six-page letter received by the office of Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez Wednesday, Mislang denied allegations in the administrative complaint by state-run Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) of grave misconduct and grave ignorance of the law for issuing last Aug. 26 a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Department of Justice (DOJ) from filing syndicated estafa case against GA president Delfin Lee and others.

Mislang explained that the TRO and the succeeding writ of preliminary injunction he issued in favor of Lee were based on the existence of a prejudicial question raised in the pending civil suit filed by GA against Pag-IBIG in Makati RTC Branch 58. It involves GA’s bid to compel Pag-IBIG to comply with agreements allowing it to update defaulting accounts with payments or to replace the defaulting Pag-IBIG borrowers with new ones.

Mislang said the DOJ’s refusal to suspend the proceedings pending the resolution of the civil suit “is a clear violation of petitioner’s (Lee’s) right.”

Mislang lamented how he has been vilified by top government officials, including Vice President Jejomar Binay, Sen. Francis Pangilinan and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. “As lawyers, they appear to have totally forgotten the very fundamental and elementary principle of separation of powers,” he said.