THOUSANDS of homeowners of two Globe Asiatique subdivisions in Pampanga have asked the Supreme Court to intervene and help immediately the cases involving the alleged housing anomaly against their developer that has put in peril the ownership of their homes.
In a four-page letter to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno on Monday, the homeowners’ associations of GA’s Xevera projects in Mabalacat and Bacolor appealed to the high court to look into their plight after losing, in effect, their appeal with the Pag-IBIG Fund.
According to them, it was Pag-IBIG itself that admitted to them that they “got caught in the middle of the lengthy court proceedings” in a letter sent early this month, prompting them to bring the matter to the SC.
Through Rolando Santos, president of the Xevera Mabalacat Homeowners Association, the homeowners lamented that they have already suffered injuries because of the cases against the GA and its owner Delfin Lee.
“It has been five years since the so-called ‘housing scam’ erupted in what we believed as a dream community for us and our families. Today, we continue to live in uncertainty and suffer the risk of being dispossessed of homes that we have bought with hard-earned money,” the homeowners said.
“As buyers of homes, we simply relied on a government housing program that we believed was working to serve the interest of the poor. But it seems we were proved wrong. And now we suffer for having placed our trust in the system,” they deplored.
Santos said they elevated their appeal to Sereno as suggested by Pag-IBIG Fund president Darlene Berberabe, who earlier rejected their plea to continue payment of their monthly dues for their housing loans with the state-run agency.
“Officials of Pag-IBIG told us that they could not do anything on our appeal ‘until the Supreme Court resolves legal issues on the cases our developer is facing,’ even if we know that Pag-IBIG already lost in the civil case before the RTC [regional trial court] and the Court of Appeals where it was Pag-IBIG that was found to be liable,” they argued.
“Whatever the reason of the Pag-IBIG officials was in their cases against the developer of our subdivision, we are not involved there. If politics or any other motive is behind this, it is just right that we be spared from the issues and further sufferings pending the final disposition of the cases,” they said.
The associations composed of about 3,000 homeowners brought their appeal to the SC after Pag-IBIG rejected their plea to re-establish their loan records and continue payment of amortization.
Santos said they have been living in their respective homes but Pag-IBIG has ceased to recognize most if not all of them as legitimate home buyers and borrowers.
In their letter to the government housing financing agency early this month, the group cited Pag-IBIG Fund’s own testimony during the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Commttee hearing on the controversy that GA does not owe it P6.5 billion – but it is in fact the funding agency that owes the developer over P600 million.
On the issue of double sale, the group reiterated to Pag-IBIG Fund that they are living witnesses who can attest that not one of them experienced or encountered other persons knocking on their doors to also claim ownership of their units.
The homeowners who are living in the Xevera housing projects also cited in their letter to Pag Ibig that “all of the 10,000 housing units were built and finished by the developer including all the necessary and extra ordinary amenities thereof.”
The homeowners said an appeal with the SC was the last resort they saw to resolve their fear and agony of losing the homes they worked hard for.
“It is our sincere desire and prayers, for the Supreme Court to finally provide a chance for the cases involving the alleged housing scam be deliberated as we seek for the earliest resolution of our current predicament,” the group added.