A mansion or rest house?
SAN LEONARDO, Nueva Ecija—The facade seems imposing and large, but inside, it is almost barren, like a shell, devoid of furnishings save for a few wall clocks and portraits.
The house of Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima in this town was opened to media people on Monday in an attempt to dispute claims that he owned a multimillion-peso mansion or villa.
Hardly luxurious, the house stands on a sprawling 4.5-hectare compound, which also has a separate house, a small pool, a four-car garage and a gazebo.
The embattled PNP chief was not present but two cousins, Toby and Tito Purisima, both lawyers, were around for the media tour of the landscaped estate and spacious ranch-style building. While far from “ordinary,” as Purisima has claimed, its interiors lacked the lavish furnishings of opulent residences in Metro Manila’s exclusive subdivisions.
It certainly does not have the air of the Great Gatsby’s mansion, or that of a Roman villa, but it is a far cry from the “Little House on the Prairie” that the cousins would want to depict it.
Asked if furnishings were taken out ahead of the media tour, Toby Purisima said with a smile, “What you see is what you get.”
While Purisima invited the media to this weekend retreat, he had yet to open to reporters the similarly controversial White House, his official quarters in Camp Crame, which was reportedly built with P12 million worth of materials from three donors.
The PNP chief has been charged in the Office of the Ombudsman with plunder, corruption and bribery for allegedly amassing P120 million in ill-gotten wealth, citing the White House and this Nueva Ecija property. He has denied wrongdoing.
Tito Purisima said the PNP chief was rarely at the rest house set amid vast tracts of farmland, on a dirt road around 5 kilometers from the town proper.
‘Ordinary house’
The “ordinary house” was built out of the PNP chief’s diligence and hard work, insisted Tito and Toby Purisima, who likewise debunked claims that the estate was worth P30 million to P50 million.
“Let us see for ourselves if this house can be compared to those in Forbes Park, in Dasmariñas, Urdaneta, Magallanes, Corinthian Gardens and Greenmeadows,” Tito said, rattling off the names of known exclusive subdivisions in Metro Manila. “If you set this house side by side with those houses, will it look the same as the mansions in these subdivisions?”
Acquired in 1998, the property with 20 mango trees is prone to flooding, according to Toby Purisima.
The main house’s fair market value is P2.7 million; the guesthouse, pool and the perimeter fence, P1.7 million; the garage, P52,000; and the gazebo, P17,000.
The property reportedly was purchased in 1998 for P52,000 per hectare. Construction began in 2002 and some renovations were done two years ago. Three caretakers maintain the property.
House: P3.75 M
But according to Purisima’s 2013 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, the property has a fair market value of P3.75 million and was acquired for P1.2 million.
There’s a gate at the entrance to the estate and a second gate some 30 meters away from the main rest house compound, which measures 3,000 square meters.
The American-style house with a large porch has a floor area of 204 square meters enclosed by a perimeter fence and a stone pathway.
PURISIMA’S ‘LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE’ Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima insists this is just an ordinary house that is worth only P2,337,900 at current prices. Critics, however, maintain that the PNP chief’s house in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, is the centerpiece of a “luxurious estate.” RAFFY LERMA
Three vases greet visitors at the front door of the main house. There is no living room.
A nine-seater table made from recycled wood is the main piece in the hall, with a vast cabinet of wines and liquor behind it. On one side is another cabinet displaying Starbucks mugs and a flat-screen TV.
A chandelier crafted from native materials hangs from the high ceiling.
Squeaky flooring
The house has five bedrooms—a master bedroom and two smaller rooms on the first floor, two rooms on the second floor and a common bathroom on the ground floor.
All rooms are also sparsely furnished, with three rooms containing only beds and either chairs or a desk. One of the attic rooms has a bed while the other has none. The rooms, each with air-conditioning units, smell as if they have not been used for a long time.
At the back of the house is the kitchen, which has an oven and a long wooden table as well.
The walls are made of gypsum boards while the ceiling is covered with marine plywood. The first floor is made of granite tiles while the second floor has wooden planks. Tito warned the media to be careful on the second floor, since some parts tended to be unstable and squeaky.
Beside the main house is the moss-green pool measuring 7.5 meters by 15 meters—not Olympic-size. The water has turned a dirty green from lack of use, with leaves littering it.
Adjacent to the pool is the 90-square-meter guesthouse with four rooms, each with a bed without mattresses and a mini-bar.
No mansion
A couple of meters away is a gazebo made of clay tiles, anahaw leaves and posts from trees felled during typhoons. It also has wooden tables and chairs crafted from apitong. Near it is a pond with koi and a small bridge.
On another side of the property is a four-car garage and drivers’ quarters with two double-deck beds.
“It is just nicely done and it is simple in style. It is not a mansion. There are many houses more beautiful than this,” Tito said.
Tito said his cousin decided to open the house to the media in the aftermath of a TV network’s report on the allegedly luxurious property, which was dubbed a villa.
In a statement, the PNP chief appealed for fair and objective reporting, and expressed hopes that questions about his property would be laid to rest with the tour of the house.
“As reporters can see, this property is no mansion by any standard. It is an ordinary house, as ordinary as the other concrete houses that you would see in the neighborhood,” Purisima maintained.
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