Owner wants Turkish envoy evicted from Makati mansion

MANILA, Philippines - The new owner of a mansion in the posh Forbes Park subdivision in Makati City has sought the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in evicting the Turkish ambassador from the property.

The multimillion-peso mansion, located at 82 Cambridge Circle, was leased to the embassy of Turkey as the official residence of Ambassador Hatice Pinar Isik.

The STAR tried to get the comment of the ambassador on the matter, but she could not be reached as she was having a meeting as of press time.

A personnel from the embassy told The STAR over the phone to send letter-request for an interview with the ambassador. 

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said they had organized meetings between Isik and the mansion owner. He expressed hope that an amicable settlement would be reached between the two parties.

Records showed that on Sept. 16, 2010, Ricky Silverio Jr., son of the late Beatriz and Ricky Silverio Sr., sold the property to Monica Ocampo.

On Feb. 1, 2011, Ocampo sold the property to Zee2 Resources, Inc., which subsequently wrote Isik a letter asking her to vacate and turnover the property to them.

When no response came from the ambassador, the company wrote more letters, which all went unanswered.

The Zee2 Resources learned that Isik had entered into a new lease contract with Silverio Sr. allowing her to occupy the mansion from December 2010 to November 2014.

The Zee2 Resources said that on March 8 this year, the Court of Appeals (CA) ratified the sale of the property between the company and Ocampo.

 It said the CA on July 4, denied a motion for reconsideration filed by Silverio Sr.

Despite the CA decision, the Zee2 Resources said Isik continues to occupy the mansion and ignored their demand letters.

According to Zee2 Resources, on Aug. 7 officials from the DFA Protocol, Legal and European Affairs office met with a representative of the Turkish embassy and informed him about the CA decision.

The Zee2 Resources said the embassy representative agreed and expressed willingness to settle the issue amicably.

On Oct. 10, representatives from the Zee2 Resources, along with DFA officials and two lawyers, met with Isik to settle the issue.

However, the ambassador reportedly refused to vacate the property claiming she was just complying with the lease agreement she signed with Silverio Sr.

The Zee2 Resources gave Isik until Dec. 13 to vacate the property. – With Pia Lee-Brago