Former Pag-Ibig exec files corruption raps vs Quimbo, 3 others

Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo: Accused by underling. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Alex Alvarez, former foreclosure manager of the Home Development Mutual Fund, or Pag-Ibig Fund, has filed corruption and other charges in the Office of the Ombudsman against his former bosses led by Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo.

Accused with Quimbo, former Pag-Ibig Fund chief operating officer, were his successor, Jaime Fabiana; senior vice president for administration Robert Cosico; and senior vice president for finance Jun Espana Jr.

Alvarez claimed these officials had failed to draw up the implementing guidelines that would have protected the housing financing agency from abuses in its loans to developers, specifically the P6.6-billion funding program granted to Globe Asiatique president Delfin Lee from 2008 to 2010.

Rehash of prior case 

In a statement, Quimbo brushed aside Alvarez’s complaint as “absolutely not true with no legal or factual basis.” He said this case was just a rehash of a previous case which the Ombudsman dismissed last year.

“The timing of the charge is quite suspicious considering that the grounds he is raising are circa 2008. Why did it take him five years to file these false charges?”

Alvarez is one of the coaccused in the P6.6-billion estafa case filed by Pag-Ibig Fund against Lee.

Quimbo, Fabiana, Cosico and Espana were charged with violation of Section 3 (e) and (g) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and the Pag-Ibig Charter. Cosico was also charged with violation of Presidential Decree No. 1829 or the Anti-Obstruction of Justice Law for the alleged coverup of their actions.

In his affidavit of complaint, Alvarez charged Quimbo, Fabiana, Cosico and Espana with failing to implement the decision of the Pag-Ibig board to launch a pilot lending program targeting self-employed and overseas Filipino workers on June 30, 2008, which called for credit investigation evaluation and for Pag-Ibig to deal directly with borrowers.

Alvarez claimed that the inaction of Quimbo and Fabiana aided the proliferation of ghost borrowers in the Xevera projects of Globe Asiatique as the board-proposed credit evaluation of borrowers could have easily detected sham loan applications.

He said that “had the former CEOs and their chief lieutenants only translated the board decision into implementing guidelines, Pag-Ibig could have been shielded from giving illicit loans.”

Operating blind 

He said the Pag-Ibig officers who manned the operating units “were operating blind” when they gave out the loans due to the lack of implementing guidelines as they were not made aware of the policies adopted by the Pag-Ibig board then led by former Vice President Noli de Castro.

Alvarez stressed that funding commitments given “were not loans by themselves but only assurances by Pag-Ibig that funds are available to encourage the developer to construct the housing units and, therefore, Pag-Ibig did not part with any of its funds or money.”