HGC president snubs hearings, faces sanctions

Lawmakers have threatened sanctions, including possible arrest, against the president of the state-owned Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC) for failing to attend a congressional inquiry into the alleged “midnight sale” of a Smokey Mountain property in Tondo, Manila.

Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, chair of the housing sub-committee at the House, said HGC president Manuel Sanchez and members of the HGC bids and awards committee could face arrest if they continued to snub the hearing.

Sanchez has not attended the committee’s mediation proceedings to settle a dispute between HGC and property developer RII Builders Inc. over the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP).

The Manila Regional Trial Court has issued a 20-day temporary restraining order stopping HGC from selling a property that is part of the SMDRP in Tondo, Manila.

The case stemmed from a petition filed by the beneficiaries of permanent housing units built in Tondo by the SMDRP that sit on the same property that was being auctioned by HGC. The petitioners said the bidding was done without any consultation with them.