Housing mogul allegedly threatened correspondent
A HOUSING mogul allegedly threatened a Pampanga-based correspondent after she reported on his company’s alleged illegal housing scheme. Pampanga is a province approximately 56 kilometers north of Manila.
Philippine Daily Inquirer senior correspondent for Central Luzon, Tonette Orejas, reported to several media organizations an alleged threat by Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. president Delfin Lee to slap her. Orejas, in a text message dated 7 September 2010, said “If Mr. Delfin Lee truly stated to Joel Mapiles of Central Luzon Daily that he (would) slap me (should) his firm be not able to complete houses on Xeveras, I think that is a clear form of threat on me.” Orejas found out about the “challenge” from Mapiles, who asked her for her reaction.
Orejas’ special report in the Inquirer discussed allegations that Globe Asiatique “breached” its memorandum of agreement with the Philippine government’s Home Development Mutual Fund (PAG-IBIG Fund) to provide houses to members of the Other Working Groups (OWG). The special report said that Globe Asiatique received “as much as P6.6 billion in loans for 8,973 houses” in its Xevera Subdivisions in Bacolor and Mabalacat, Pampanga. (“Pilot Housing Project: Firm breaks Pag-Ibig rules on loans”, 30 August 2010, pp. A1 & A17 and “Pilot Housing Project: Bogus borrowers bought houses”, 31 August 2010, pp. A1 & A8)
According to Joel Mapiles, Lee told him during an interview on his reaction to the special report that he is challenging Orejas to count the houses in the Xevera subdivisions. Lee allegedly said that he is willing to be slapped by Orejas if they see any unfinished house in Xevera. But he would slap Orejas if they find no unfinished houses. (The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility tried to confirm the incident with Lee, but he declined an interview request.)
Orejas said in her text message that “My special report on (the) possible scams in Xevera projects seeks to protect PAG-IBIG fund members (who) pay mandatory contributions to (the) agency. I’m not a liar as Lee accuses me. The ‘special buyer’ scheme, among others, is now up to Congress to investigate.”
In Mapiles’ report (“GA has no ‘ghost borrowers’ – Lee”), Lee said that Orejas’ report was “malicious and based on pure lies”. Lee denied allegations that Globe Asiatique used “ghost PAG-IBIG borrowers” to get loans from PAG-IBIG. He also said that Orejas’ report has affected his business. “Hindi na ako magdedevelop. Ilang taon naming binuo itong low-cost housing development project na ito. Isang story lang, nasira ang lahat (I will stop developing houses. We have built this low-cost housing development project for years. But just one story ruined it),” the Central Luzon Daily reported, quoting Lee.
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