VP Binay – Delfin
Lee no Ping Lacson; urges PNP, NBI to intensify manhunt
By OVP Media
July 24, 2012
MANILA – Saying
fugitive property developer Delfin Lee “is no Ping Lacson,” Vice
President Jejomar C. Binay on Tuesday appealed to the Philippine
National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to
redouble their efforts to capture Lee, who faces arrest for syndicated estafa.
The Vice President issued
the appeal after lawyer Willie Rivera, Lee’s counsel, said in a
television program that his client is still in the Philippines but is
in hiding. Lee’s lawyer also likened the case of his client to Senator
Ping Lacson, who went into hiding during the Arroyo administration.
“Delfin Lee is no Ping
Lacson. Senator Lacson was a critic of the Arroyo regime, while Lee
defrauded Pag-Ibig Fund of almost P6 billion by using fake borrowers
and fake documents and destroyed the dreams of thousand of working
Filipinos,” he said.
“I am appealing to the PNP
and NBI to double their efforts to locate and arrest Delfin Lee. Now
that we know that he is still in the country, he must be found and put
behind bars at the soonest,” Binay said.
The Vice President also
debunked the lawyer’s claim that there is no syndicated estafa against
Lee’s company Globe Asiatique, citing the January 30, 2012 resolution
of the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) that ordered the Home
Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-Ibig Fund) to comply with the
contract provisions on replacement buyers.
The Vice President said the
Makati case ruling did not absolve Lee from criminal liability.
“GA is just muddling the
issue. The Makati RTC ruling does not absolve Lee of syndicated estafa,”
Binay said.
He cited the Court of
Appeals (CA) decision of April 16, 2012, penned by Associate Justice
Franchito Diamante, which ruled that regardless of the final ruling on
the Makati civil case, it will not serve to extinguish the criminal
liability of Lee and his co-accused.
Binay is the Chairman of the
Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC). He is also
the Chairman of the Board of Pag-Ibig Fund.
For her part, Pag-Ibig
President and CEO Darlene Berberabe said the Makati civil case was
“separate and distinct” from the criminal case filed against Lee, his
son Dexter, and three other GA officers for syndicated estafa.
“The Makati RTC decision
expressly states that it did not delve into the issue of fraud
(pertaining to Pag-Ibig ghost borrowers and double sale),” she said.
On May 22, Judge Maria
Amifaith Fider-Reyes of the Pampanga RTC found probable cause against
Lee and his co-accused and issued corresponding warrants for their
arrest with no recommendation for bail.
Berberabe said the Makati court ruling is not yet final and is the
subject of a motion for reconsideration filed by Pag-Ibig.
“Pag-Ibig respectfully
disagrees with the decision and this we filed a motion for
reconsideration. We are confident that the decision will be
subsequently overturned,” she said.
Berberabe said Pag-Ibig
refused to accept the replacement buyers because doing so would mean
covering up the fraud committed by GA.
“GA wants Pag-Ibig to be
compelled to accept replacement buyers. Pag-Ibig did not accept the
replacement buyers because the original buyers (Pag-Ibig borrowers)
are fake. To accept such replacements would mean covering up the fraud
of GA,” she said.