SC looks into Globe Asiatique homeowners’ plight

BAGUIO CITY - The Supreme Court (SC) has decided to look into the plight of thousands of homeowners in subdivisions of Globe Asiatique Realty Holding Corp. in Pampanga who are caught up in cases between the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) and their developer, Delfin Lee.

In a one-page resolution obtained by reporters on Wednesday, the SC has directed its clerk of court to address the relief sought in the four-page letter last December 2015 of the homeowners' associations of GA’s Xevera projects in Mabalacat and Bacolor.

"The Court resolved to note the letter of Xevera Mabalacat Homeowners' Association and Xevera Bacolor Homeowners' Association, inquiring on the status of these cases. The Court further resolved to refer the aforesaid letter to the clerk of court for appropriate action," read the order promulgated last March 15.

In their letter to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in December last year, associations of GA Xevera in Mabalacat and Bacolor claimed that Pag-IBIG Fund has been using the pending cases as an excuse to reject the homeowners' monthly amortizations and decline to recognize them as homeowners.

After the alleged housing scam began, Pag-IBIG stripped GA Xevera of the authority to collect monthly payments from the homeowners and directed them to instead pay directly to Pag-IBIG, they said.

Pag-IBIG is a mandatory national savings program and affordable shelter financing for Filipino workers. It offers short-term loans and access to housing programs.

The homeowners claimed the situation became "more complicated" when Pag-IBIG told them it would only accept their monthly payments if they would press charges against GA Xevera "... sa kung anu-anong dahilan na wala namang katotohanan."

They alleged that Pag-IBIG ended up refusing their payments altogether when they refused to heed such condition.

"Ngayon po, ang tanging naisasagot lang po sa amin ng mga opisyales ng Pag-IBIG ay wala silang magagawa 'hanggang hindi nakakapagbigay ng kasagutan ang Korte Suprema sa usaping legal tungkol sa kasong kinakaharap ng aming developer,' kahit pa sa aming pagkaka-alam ay natalo na ang Pag-IBIG sa usaping civil sa (Regional Trial Court) at Court of Appeals kung saan ang Pag-IBIG ay hinatulang may sala sa kaguluhang ito," the letter read.

"Kami po ay dumudulog sa inyo upang mabigyan po ng kalinawan ang aming mga katanungan at lubos na nananalig na magkakaroon din ng kalutasan ang aming suliranin at kaganapan ang aming mga mithiin," the homeowners added.

The homeowners clarified they didn't want to get involved in the cases filed by Pag-IBIG against GA Xevera, of which Delfin Lee is the founder and president.

"Kung politika man o ano pa man ang kanilang motibo, marapat po lamang na hindi po kami madamay lalu't higit na magdusa pa habang naghihintay sa pinal na resulta ng legal na asunto ng dalawang panig mula sa Korte Suprema sa apela ng talunang Pag-IBIG," they said.

The homeowners told Sereno that they have already appealed to Pag-IBIG to re-establish the loan records of over 3,000 homebuyers or borrowers, and resume accepting their monthly amortization.

"Today, we continue to live in uncertainty and suffer the risk of being dispossessed of our homes that we have bought with hard-earned money," the letter read.

"As buyers of homes, we simply relied on a government housing program which we believed was working to serve the interest of the poor. But it seems we were proved wrong. And now we suffer for having placed our trust in the system," it added.

The homeowners pointed out that in her testimony during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the alleged "housing scam," Pag-IBIG president Darlene Berberabe admitted under oath that Globe Asiatique does not owe Pag-IBIG Fund P6.5 billion but on the contrary it is the funding agency that owes GA Xevera more than P600 milliom.

"As living witnesses, all of us can attest that none one of us experienced or encountered other persons who knocked on our doors and claim they own our dwellings. And yet Pag-IBIG refuses to recognize that," the homeowners noted, citing the issue of their respective properties having been resold by the developer.

The homeowners also emphasized that all of the 10,000 housing units were built and finished by the developer, including all the necessary and extraordinary amenities. — RSJ, GMA News