Allegations baseless, malicious, says Megaworld

PENTHOUSE VISTA A view from the corridor leading to the 303-square-meter Unit 38B of The Bellagio Tower I at Bonifacio Global City owned by Chief Justice Renato C. Corona. Photo taken on Jan. 5, 2012. ERNIE SARMIENTO

Property developer Megaworld Corp. decried as “completely baseless” and “malicious” allegations that it had sold discounted upscale condominium units to Chief Justice Renato Corona in exchange for special court favors.

“For the record, we wish to state that in all our business dealings with Chief Justice Corona, the company has neither solicited nor obtained any favor either from the Chief Justice or from the court,” Megaworld said in a statement Tuesday.

To give due respect to the impeachment proceedings, Megaworld said it had earlier chosen to remain silent primarily due to its privacy policy of maintaining strict confidentiality with respect to all client information.

But after the exhaustive testimony given by its finance director, Giovanni Ng, and after delivering all the documents that were requested by the impeachment court, Megaworld lamented allegations that the sale of the units mentioned during the impeachment hearings were in consideration for favors received or requested from the court.

3 cases

The company urged the public to examine the records of the high court’s decisions on all cases involving Megaworld. It said these publicly available records “would readily show that Megaworld has never requested nor obtained any favor from anyone in the court, including the Chief Justice who is presently standing trial.”

Citing its own records, Megaworld said there had been three cases decided with finality by the high court involving the property developer, two of which were issued before the purchase of the Bellagio unit.

The third case was issued after the purchase of the Bellagio unit but which however was adverse to Megaworld, with Corona himself voting against the property developer.

In summary, Megaworld lost to its court opponent in two out of these three cases.

“The cases speak for themselves … In all these cases, we have followed all judicial processes, availed of all legal remedies and abided by all the final decisions of the court,” Megaworld said.

Megaworld vs Tanseco

“It is significant to note that even before spouses Corona finished their amortization of the Bellagio unit, Justice Corona voted against Megaworld Globus in Megaworld Globus Asia Inc. vs. Tanseco, GR No. 181206 (2009),” the statement said.

This decision canceled a 1995 contract to buy and sell between the parties and Megaworld Globus thus paid the respondent, Mila S. Tanseco, a total of P21.72 million to satisfy the judgment.

“As a company, we shall continue to uphold the highest standard of ethical business practices,” Megaworld said.

“With the impeachment trial in progress at the Senate, we shall refrain from giving any further comment on this matter in due deference to the constitutional process taking place at the Senate.”