Press Release
November 10, 2010

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW OF SENATOR SERGE OSMEÑA

Serge: May hearing bukas, dun sa APECO (Aurora Pacific Economic Zone), pupunta dito ang mga pari, bishops, NGOs, magko-complain sila. Nila-landgrab sila ni Angara para sa APECO. May statement na nga si Bishop Pabillo. Nag-threaten pa sa kanila iyong bata ni Angara.

Q: Nila-landgrab ng Angara family?

Serge: It's a 12,500 hectare land. Under the law na pinasa, they have the right to imminent (?) domain kasi gobyerno daw. Eh wala naman katao-tao dun sa Aurora, dun sa Kasibulan, that's the last town. Walang mapuntahan ngayon ang mga magsasaka doon, binibili sa kanila ang lupa ng P30,000.

Q: Pupunta ang mga nagrereklamo bukas?

Serge: Yes.

On the Pag-IBIG/GA housing mess

Q: May statement na si (Lucille) Ortile through Executive Secretary Ochoa na Malacanang will cooperate if any executive official is invited to the Senate hearing in the spirit of transparency and to shed light on the issue....

Serge: Wonderful, very good. We expected that they would cooperate, they have always said that. Vice President Noli attended the hearing and said he would cooperate. We are very happy that that is the development. We expect also that they would cooperate in coming to a conclusion on how to plug whatever loopholes there are.

Hindi naman nila made-deny na may nawala na malaking pera ang Pag-IBIG, hindi nila made-deny na there are false buyers, hindi nila made-deny na there is something wrong with the procedure or the system that was employed by Pag-IBIG.

Having 10 or 20 fake buyers, siguro puwede, makakalusot iyan. Pero iyong 1,900 fake buyers or non-existent buyers, that's something else. Pre-planned ito. Pre-meditated ito.

Q: Marami sa nasa posisyon noon, wala na. Paano na ito?

Serge: Hindi bale. There are still criminal cases here. And just because you resigned or retired or you were re-appointed to another position or reelected to public office does not excuse you from whatever malfeasance, non-feasance or misfeasance that has occured during your term of office in a previous agency.

Q: Kasama doon si former Vice President?

This is not a joke for the simple reason na sa America nagkaroon nga ng subprime disaster which affected the whole world. Well, this is our subprime. And if it had continued - because this is the biggest lender in low-cost housing in the Philippines , because Pag-IBIG loans are nowreaching over $1 billion a year pero ang pinapahiram nila ay pera ng mga miyembro, hindi pera ng gobyerno. Ang pinapahiram nila ay pera ng mga members ng Pag-IBIG, you, I, we are all members of Pag-IBIG. So we want to make sure that they handle this in the most professional manner, in the most transparent manner. Huwag nilang sabihin sa amin na, 'Hindi maganda ito kasi gumawa sila ng gold-plated municipal hall or gold-plated swimming pool.' Wala akong pakialam kung gold-plated iyan kung peke naman ang mga buyers niyan.

Q: Si Noli de Castro, ano ang gusto niyong makuhang impormasmayon?

Serge: Alam naman niya na that we are going to look into the development of policy. Bakit nila inexempt ang Xevera project ng Globe Asiatique? Kasi before, meron silang guarantee. There was a guarantee and they removed the guarantee. Ngayon, ang guarantee ay ang guarantee ng Xevera and Globe Asiatique. Eh teka muna, iya ang mag-guarantee ng kanyang loan. Moral hazard iyon.Hindi puwede iyon.

Q: Will the reported relationship between the former Vice President and Ms. Ortile have a bearing on this?

Serge: What alleged relationship? I never mentioned about that. That has nothing to do with this. I am not going to pry into the private lives of anybody. This is in aid of legislation and it has to do with the bad policies made by Pag-IBIG in dispensing with its loan program.

Q: Anong kailangang ipaliwanag ni Ms. Ortile?

Serge: She was a key person. She was the secretary general of the HUDCC. She was only number 2 to Noli de Castro in the HUDCC, which is the coordinating council and has direct control and supervision over all the housing agencies, including the National Housing Administration, the Home Guarantee Corporation. Sila ang in-charge ngayon just like Vice President Binay, siya na ang in-charge ngayon and is the one who is the chairman of Pag-IBIG, chairman of National Housing.

Q: She had a hand in the formulation and implementation of policies?

Serge: Yes, definitely. Policies were formulated by them. These were approved by the Board and implemented by the executives of the agencies concerned.

Q: You said this was pre-planned and premeditated. How high ang mararating niyo dito?

Serge: It would go as high as evidence would lead us to. There will be no sacred cows in this investigation. Iyong key person na si vice president for Central Luzon, si Wilma Flores, did not turn up in the first hearing. She wrote us that she could not attend because was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, which she discovered 3 days before the the hearing. I will have that validated but definitely, we will call her.

Q: Si Delfin Lee nakasuhan na ng Pag-IBIG?

Serge: Sumipot siya sa first hearing. Pag-IBIG has prepared charged for syndicated estafa, which means there is no bail. I don't know what has happened to that.

I want Pag-IBIG also to tell me how many of their officers will be charged also with collusion and conspiracy.

Q: You think there's collusion?

Serghe: Oh yes, definitely. Hindi ito magagawa ni Delfin Lee on his own, hindi mangyayari ito if he is on his own.

Q: Noli ipapatawag uli? Hindi ba na-satisfy dun sa first appearance?

Serge: Hindi pa kami tapos. We will have to follow the trail of evidence. We have to try to interview some of the false buyers, itatanong namin sa kanila anong nangyari, bakit nila pinirmahan iyan kung wala naman silang intensyon? Kung sabihin nila na "Binayaran kami ng P3,000 eh', iba na iyon.

Q: Pet project daw ito ni Noli de Castro?

Serge: He can justify to us the efforts he made and explain to us the exemptions he gave to Delfin Lee. Napakalaking pera nito. As a matter of fact, it's agood thing that we have discovered the anomaly early enough kasi merong reports na meron ding P5 billion para dun sa housing nila sa Subic. Meron din sila sa Mindoro, sa Bacolod. Kung tuloy-tuloy ito, if we had waited another year, that would be another P7 to P10 billion.

I think the investigation will come up with the proper solutions as far as mending the law is concerned.

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