A landlord’s worst nightmare

Drug users apparently are not the only victims of the illegal trade.

Just ask businessman Teddy Monasterio Sr. and his wife, the former Cora Lucas, owners of the house on Hemlock Street, Executive Heights, Parañaque, which became the site of what has been dubbed the country’s biggest bust of a shabu laboratory last Nov. 1.

In an exclusive interview with The STAR, which was also their first before media, the Monasterio couple, who have been in touch and are now cooperating fully with police authorities, revealed how they almost fainted in shock when they first learned of the fate that befell the house they had been renting to Xuzi Bin Ong, 30, a Chinese national.

The Monasterios would have said they want to let the investigation and the law take their course before speaking publicly. But when tabloids screamed that it was their son, Teddy Monasterio Jr., who owned the house, they decided to step forward and set the record straight.

"Kawawa naman yung bata, nananahimik ay biglang nadamay," Cora said of her son, a former basketball player who made a name playing for the San Beda Red Cubs in high school, the La Salle Green Archers in college, and then the Philippine Basketball League. She lamented, "May isang tabloid pa nga na nagsabi, ‘Basketbolista, sangkot sa droga’. That is so unfair."

She added that Teddy has been quietly engaging in farming in Bicol where her husband is also based. "It is his father, Teddy Sr., who owns the house, not him. And for the record, that house is not and was never in the brink of foreclosure."

Cora said they had no idea their tenant, who had signed a contract prepared by the Monasterios’ lawyers before the former began living in the house, was involved in the drug trade.

"He has been renting the house for two years now at P70,000 a month and during all that time we had no problem with him; he paid his rent on time and his checks never bounced," Teddy Sr. said.

Ironically, the Monasterios were initially pleased that their tenants would be only Xuzi and his wife, who claimed they were in "the computer business."

The Monasterios had initially wanted P80,000 a month, inclusive of furniture, for the house that stands on the over 1,200 square-meter lot which also has a swimming pool.

"But he preferred not to use our furnitures," Cora related. "Maybe that was to make way for all the equipment they would use."

The Monasterios, however, were not able to bring along all their things. Among the items left behind was a jersey belonging to Teddy Jr., which reports have often mentioned in tracing the ownership of the house. During the time they rented the house out, the Monasterios never inspected the property, so they had no idea what was going on inside.

The Monasterios may be living a landlord’s worst nightmare but Cora said they hope that in time "the truth will come out and our names – especially our son’s–will be cleared. We have nothing to hide."