Judge gives Delfin Lee another reprieve

The filing of syndicated estafa (fraud) case against Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. owner Delfin Lee, his son and three of his employees will again be delayed after the judge who issued a controversial temporary restraining order gave lawyers of the Lees the maximum number of days to answer a motion, according to the Office of the Vice President.

Joey Salgado, spokesperson of Vice President Jejomar Binay, said lawyers of the Home Development Mutual Fund, or Pag-Ibig fund, reported that at a hearing on Friday morning, Pasig City Regional Trial Court Judge Rolando Mislang gave lawyers of the Lees 15 days to answer the motion for reconsideration of the TRO filed by Pag-Ibig external lawyers from the Taguian and Camina Law Office.

Salgado said that at the hearing, the Lees’ counsel initially questioned the authority of the external counsels to act in behalf of Pag-Ibig, noting that the lawyers brought with them only a photocopy of the letter of authority from the Office of the Solicitor General.

The lawyers were subsequently recognized after they promised to submit a certified true copy of the letter of authority, Salgado said.

Mislang had issued the TRO in favor of Lee and the others just as the Department of Justice was set to charge them with syndicated fraud in the San Fernando Regional Trial Court in Pampanga in connection with the allegedly irregular P6.65-billion loans that Pag-Ibig granted to alleged “ghost borrowers” who bought units in Globe Asiatique’s housing project in the province.

Salgado said that Binay, who is also the concurrent head of the Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council and has jurisdiction over the Pag-Ibig Fund, also ordered the filing of an administrative case for grave misconduct against Mislang before the Supreme Court.