Unscrupulous resort developers

Some real estate developers have lately been guilty of trying every trick in the book to lure people to buy shares or units in unfinished resorts, condominium projects and the like, promising the world to entice investors. It seems more often than not, mismanagement by these irresponsible developers often leads to half-finished projects and unusable clubs and condo units. Apparently the HULRB has been receiving several complaints from many victims particularly in Batangas. 

One such case involves the Evercrest Golf Club Resort and the adjacent Gulod Condominium in Batangas which has been in limbo because the Land Bank allegedly has done nothing to foreclose the project so that reliable developers can take over. Both Evercrest and Gulod are owned by controversial businessman Jose Go of the Gotesco Mall chain. Apparently, Go’s company collected money from investors but left the resort unfinished which kept so many victims left “holding the bag.”

Go has been embroiled in several cases over the past several years including tax evasion charges filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 2005 against the businessman and officers of his realty firm GMCC United Development Corp. for alleged falsification of income and other taxes amounting to more then P600 million for 1998 and 1999. In 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission suspended Gotesco Land’s registration of securities for failing to submit financial reports and for not paying P111,000 in penalties.

In March 2009, the Bangko Sentral acquired Evercrest Golf Club Resort for P1.3 billion because it was the only bidder in the sheriff’s public auction sale of several properties of Go to pay the creditors of the now-defunct Orient Bank (where Go was also chairman) with debts amounting to P6 billion. That same year, the Supreme Court approved the prosecution of Go for allegedly approving questionable loan guarantees and borrowing at least P2.75 billion in deposits from the said bank without the written approval of the Board of Directors. Go was accused of estafa in relation to his bank’s operations and in fact, the Bangko Sentral even asked the Manila Regional Trial Court to deny the motion of Go to travel abroad in 2001 while the case was ongoing.

We hear a lot of rumors that another so called reputable real estate developer in Batangas will soon face charges from disgruntled lot/homeowners with the same recurring complaint – non-delivery of promises.

Spy vs. Spy

US officials are blaming Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency or the ISI for blowing the cover of the CIA station chief in Islamabad whose name was revealed several weeks ago by a Pakistani man who threatened to sue the CIA for the alleged death of his son and brother in a 2009 drone missile strike conducted by the US. According to spy sources, the CIA has launched over 100 drone strikes this year alone in Pakistan, more than twice the number of strikes last year.

Pakistan has of course denied allegations that it was the source of the leak but suspicions persist that the “sudden disappearance” of the top US spy in Pakistan may have been in retaliation of a US lawsuit filed in New York in connection with the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India where Pakistan’s ISI chief, Gen. Ahmed Pasha, was named as a defendant.

Like the Philippines, Pakistan is considered a “high alert-terror” nation and although the Pakistani government has been cooperating with the US in the fight against terrorists, there are allegations that Pakistan is secretly dealing with terrorist groups like the al-Qaeda and the Lashkar-e-Taiba believed to be responsible for the Mumbai attacks. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based organization, recently named Pakistan as the most dangerous country for journalists displacing the Philippines now ranked 11th after Afghanistan.

Death of a legal luminary

We were shocked to hear of the sudden demise of Atty. Leonardo Siguion Reyna, a legal luminary and founding member of Philippines, Inc. “Uncle Sig” as many fondly called him, was just with us last Friday night for the board meeting and Christmas party of Philippines Inc. at the Tower Club. Apparently, Atty. Siguion Reyna was already not feeling well and asked to be excused early. Last Saturday afternoon, he went to his wife, Armida, complaining about difficulty in breathing. They rushed him to the St. Luke’s Hospital where he was confined overnight. Shortly after noon of Sunday, Atty. Siguion Reyna went into cardiac arrest and expired shortly after.

 He was the senior proprietary partner of the Siguion Reyna, Montecillo, Ongsiako (SRMO) law office and considered an icon in the legal profession. He jokingly said however he would rather be known as the husband of television’s “Aawitan Kita” singer Armida “Tita Midz” Siguion Reyna and the grandfather of stage actress and singer Cris Villonco. He also is the brother-in-law of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. He has three children Leonardo Jr., film director Carlos and Monique, wife of our friend and SRMO general partner Atty. Opap Villonco.

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