Graft charges recommended vs ex-VP Binay over Boy Scouts land deal

Updated at 5 p.m. to include the statement of Alphaland Makati Place, Inc.

The Office of the Ombudsman’s fact-finding team has recommended graft charges against former Vice President Jejomar Binay over an allegedly anomalous sale of a property of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) in Makati.

Aside from Binay, criminal cases were also recommended against officials of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP), Alphaland Makati Place, Inc. (AMPI) and former officers of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

“The criminal and administrative charges will undergo preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication, respectively,” the Ombudsman said in a statement on Wednesday.

The charges stemmed from a probe by the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office on the P600 million sale of a 10,000-square meter BSP property in Makati to Alphaland Makati.

“The sale was grossly undervalued considering that under the Omnibus Loan and Security Agreement between BSP and AMPI, the Malugay property was mortgaged for P1,750,000,000.00 which is indicative of the property’s true value,” the Ombudsman said.

“Meantime, the BIR officials were faulted for certifying that the sale was exempt from payment of capital gains tax which resulted in a loss of P63,000,000.00 in tax collection for the government,” it added.

READ: Binay got P200M in Boy Scouts land deal– Mercado

Specifically, the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office recommended criminal and administrative charges for violation of Section 3 (e) and (g) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act would be filed against the following persons:

• BSP President Jejomar Binay;
• BSP Senior Vice President Wendel Avisado;
• BSP executives Del De Guzman, J. Miguel De Jesus, Enrique Lagdameo, Pedro Destura, Dale Corvera, Maximo Edralin, Jr., Remedios Petilla, Roberto Pagdanganan, Harmes Sembrano, Mildred Garay, Manuel Jose Dalipe, Leo Lasacar, Danilo Asiaten, Lutgardo Barbo, Jose Mari Pelaez, Ireneo Aquino, Jose Eduardo Delgado, Henry Dy, Jose Ma. Gastardo, Pepito Carpio, Nemesio Miranda, Jr., Jaime Semana, Wilfredo Chato, Alan Zulueta, Jorge Banal, Efren Edgard Dieta, Rodolfo Tamani, Von Carlo Yacob, J. Rizal Pangilinan, Salud Bagalso, and Amado Espino, Jr.

Likewise, charges for violation of Section 3(e) were also recommended against:

• Alphaland Makati Place, Inc. (AMPI) President Mario Oreta

former Bureau of Internal Revenue officers Teodoro Galicia, Authorized Revenue Official; Mark Anthony Panganiban, Revenue Officer; and Romeo Tomas, Group Supervisor

An administrative complaint for Gross Neglect of Duty was also recommended to be filed against Binay, Avisado, De Guzman, Pagdanganan, Lasacar, Palaez, Delgado, Dy and Carpio.

Ongpin, Oreta react

Roberto V. Ongpin, chair of Alphaland Corp., issued a statement, saying: “We have no knowledge whatsoever of this, and do not even have a copy of the case filed.  As far as we know, the Senate investigation on this matter was never concluded.”

Mario Oreta, former president of Makati Place and Alphaland Corp. (who signed the deal with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) at that time), said: “There was no way that this contact was disadvantageous to Boy Scout. As a matter of fact, the return to Boy Scout on their investment has always been very advantageous for them.” /vvp