Noli virtually clears Globe Asiatique in housing loan scam

MANILA, Philippines - Former Vice President Noli de Castro, who was former Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman, has practically cleared Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. and blamed the Pampanga office of Pag-IBIG Fund for the alleged bogus loan borrowers.

De Castro, who was also former chairman of Pag-IBIG Fund (Home Development Mutual Fund), in a radio interview with dzRH’s, clarified there were no phony borrowers, but applicants who have not completed all the requirements but were qualified to get housing loans in Pampanga.

He said he ordered an investigation into this in Pag-IBIG Pampanga last March, noting that these applicants with incomplete papers might have availed themselves of loans for housing units in Pampanga not just of Globe Asiatique but also of other realty developers.

De Castro said the inquiry got nowhere because of the elections but he tried to keep in touch with officials of Pag-IBIG Fund about the problem even after the new administration took over.

He said that the problem might have arisen because of the directive of then President Arroyo to avoid red tape, resulting in the reduction and the loosening of requirements to avoid graft and corruption and fasttrack solution to the housing backlog.

De Castro volunteered to testify in the proposed House inquiry and to meet with Vice President Jojo Binay, the incumbent HUDCC chairman, so he can explain how one becomes a Pag-IBIG member, how one gets qualified to get housing loan, and how this problem could have arisen.

He noted that Globe Asiatique, just like any private national shelter partner, merely processes housing applications based on certification issued by Pag-IBIG Fund. In the case of Globe Asiatique, it has already built all the housing units using its own funds before they were sold to Pag-IBIG members.

De Castro said there were instances when some loan borrowers fail to pay their loan amortization but Pag-IBIG tried to understand their financial plight and made arrangements with the developers so that they were eventually settled.

He stressed that all housing developers issue a two-year buy-back guarantee, with Globe Asiatique even giving a five-year guarantee, making sure that the money of Pag-IBIG members and of the government is safe and protected.

De Castro said Pag-IBIG Fund has allowed the so-called non-formally employed, like the self-employed market vendors and the overseas workers, even during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos, but this was made into a law recently and is availed of, not just by Globe Asiatique, but also by other developers.

He decried the sensationalized media reports, which he said, will only destroy good working relations of Pag-IBIG Fund with housing developers, including Globe Asiatique, and this will cause a setback in the government’s effort to provide affordable housing.