Lawyer: Pag-IBIG 'failed' to pay P132-M fee in Asiatique case

 Manila, Philippines - A lawyer representing Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee said yesterday that Pag-IBIG Fund failed to pay the P132-million filing fee in the case against his client.

“The Rules of Court were violated in issuing the warrant of arrest against my client because of the failure of Pag-IBIG to first pay the filing fee,” Willy Rivera told The STAR.

Rivera also said he has asked the San Fernando, Pampanga regional trial court to dismiss the criminal complaint against Lee, noting that a similar civil case against his client had already been dismissed by a Makati City court.

“The criminal case should be dismissed because my client did not violate any contract. Globe Asiatique was merely the developer of Pag-IBIG. It just guaranteed the loans already approved by Pag-IBIG,” Rivera said.

In petitioning for the dismissal of the case against Lee, Rivera stressed that “it was Pag-Ibig (that) proposed the contract of adherence in all the Xevera housing loans.”

Lee, his son Dexter, and three officers of Globe Asiatique have standing warrants of arrest for syndicated estafa charges involving their Xevera housing projects in Bacolor and Mabalacat towns in Pampanga.

Last May, RTC Branch 42 Judge Maria Amifaith Fider-Reyes issued warrants for their arrest with no recommendation for bail.

The suspects were accused of using “ghost borrowers” and fake documents to obtain over P6.5 billion in loans from Pag-IBIG Fund for the housing projects. Most of the victims were ordinary employees and overseas Filipino workers who complained of being assigned to units already registered to others.

Rivera said he does not know where Lee is and his actions as legal counsel for Lee is based on his coordination with members of the Globe Asiatique board, which remains active.

President Aquino recently increased to P2 million the bounty for Lee’s capture.