House probe of UBFHAI takeover to ‘open can of worms’

A congressional inquiry on alleged irregularities committed by the Housing and Land  Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) in handling the case of a homeowner’s group in Parañaque will “open a can of worms,” parties to the case said.

Two rival factions of the United BF Homeowners Association Inc. (UBFHAI) officers and members believe that the investigation being called for by Quezon City Rep. Vincent Crisologo, who chairs the House of Representatives committee on housing and urban development, will work in their favor.

The UBFHAI’s members are homeowners’ associations that cover 10,000 households in BF subdivisions in Parañaque, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa.

Both factions said the House probe will result in vindication or humiliation for their rival group and the HLURB.

UBFHAI president Celso Reyes – who was recently stripped of his powers after an HLURB management committee (mancom) took over the organization’s affairs and padlocked the group’s clubhouse – said the probe will expose how they are being harassed by a government office that is allegedly committing abuse of authority.

He and other incumbent officers are calling on other homeowner’s groups supposedly “victimized” by the HLURB to come out.

Reyes said they will expose how the HLURB is allegedly violating its own rules by issuing and enforcing orders without writs of execution and while the case is still under appeal.   

On the other hand, Reyes’ rivals – led by Rolando Navarro, who filed charges against him in 2005 after learning that the UBFHAI was allegedly missing millions of pesos – believe that Crisologo is about to expose Reyes’ reported money-making schemes.

They said the HLURB is dealing with Reyes by ordering an audit of the association’s financial statements from 2004 to present.

Mancom vice-chairman and former UBFHAI president Antonio Antonio said the committee, headed by lawyer Aristotle Sarmiento, is following a paper trail of documents and auditing UBFHAI’s financial records despite the lack of coordination and cooperation from Reyes’ camp.

Antonio said they are even seeking assistance from the national Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and will need independent auditors to thoroughly study what he referred to as a graft case that is “almost plunder.”

Congress is expected to begin its investigation this week with both UBFHAI factions wanting to be heard before a congressional hearing.

Mancom members Lorenzo Cinco, Santiago dela Cruz Jr., and Roberto Alfonso said they are also looking forward to being called before the House so they can report what they have learned so far since they took control of UBFHAI’s affairs upon orders of the HLURB.