MANILA, Philippines?Charges of falsification of documents are being readied against one of the country?s biggest land developers for committing alleged irregularities in its housing projects with the government-managed Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) in Pampanga.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is concurrently chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), had already ordered an investigation and audit of Globe Asiatique

As HUDCC head, Binay also chairs the board of trustees of the Pag-IBIG Fund, which is replenished by mandatory monthly contributions from private sector and government employees to provide a national savings program and affordable shelter financing for the people.

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales is also seeking an inquiry into the large-scale use of the Pag-IBIG Fund to finance questionable housing projects and bogus housing loans, which was the subject of a two-part special report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer early this week.

House probe

In filing proposed Resolution No. 316 directing the House good government committee to open the inquiry, Gonzales said such ?irresponsible? use of government funds ?may lead to a financial crisis? affecting the economy.

?This is worrisome. We don?t know how much this would impact on Pag-IBIG in particular and the economy of the country in general,? he told reporters in an interview Tuesday.

In a telephone call on Monday, Delfin Lee, Globe Asiatique president, maintained that his firm did not commit any wrongdoing.

The Inquirer series studied ways through which housing loans were obtained in Xevera subdivisions in Bacolor and Mabalacat towns in Pampanga province, and uncovered that Globe Asiatique registered ineligible home borrowers as Pag-IBIG members in the Other Working Group project that caters to low-income earners in the informal sector.

The firm also managed to take out loan proceeds though the houses are not yet complete. In all, the company has taken out nearly P7 billion from the Pag-IBIG Fund since 2008 to build almost 9,000 townhouses, many of which are unoccupied.

The report also found that the Pag-IBIG Fund bent its rules to make it easy for Globe Asiatique to recruit members for Pag-IBIG and make them avail themselves of loans worth P635,000 to P750,000.

Both the government agency and the private firm did not comply with Circular No. 237 that prescribed policies in dealing with private developers and detailed the responsibilities of the latter.

More problems?

Anzures did not say if the HUDCC audit and investigation found more problems beyond those uncovered by the Inquirer report. Other major developers were covered by the audit.

Binay has given assurance that the priority would be Pag-IBIG Fund?s 8 million members. ?There shall be no whitewash. Let the ax fall where it must fall,? he added.

The Pag-IBIG Fund belongs to the members and are in the ?nature of fiduciary funds? which should not be used or dissipated to finance questionable housing enterprises, Gonzales said.

He said that the House committee on good government should also look into the possible violation of regulations arising from the ?unscrupulous partnership? of Pag-IBIG Fund officials and housing developers.

?Direct accounts of alleged fictitious and bogus borrowers are to the effect that people went to them to secure their signatures on certain documents in exchange for specific amounts of money, but they did not know nor were they informed that the documents they signed were to be utilized to secure Pag-IBIG housing loans,? Gonzales said.

Loan processing

An internal audit by Pag-IBIG showed that loan documentation was incomplete and deficient, and loan processing was fast-tracked to approve loans of nonmembers in one to three days, he said.

?What?s sad here is that the money is collected from legitimate members of the Pag-IBIG. This is worse than the executives enjoying hefty pay,? Gonzales said.

In contrast, ordinary employees ?pass through the eye of the needle? when applying for Pag-IBIG loans, he said.

While the Pag-IBIG Fund had guaranteed the loans payable in 20 years, Gonzales wondered who would pay for these once that period expired.

?How could the dead pay for the loans? If it?s being sold to others, then that?s not the concept of the Pag-IBIG. Buy and sell is not the concept of the Pag-IBIG,? he said.