Powerful forces moving on GA Written by Tribune Editorial The Globe Asiatique controversy took an interesting turn the other day when former Vice President and now returning ABS-CBN newscaster Noli Boy de Castro or Kabayan, made an admission before the Senate panel of Sen. JV Ejercito that he had endorsed the unusually huge P5 billion loan of GA head Delfin Lee with the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) when he was head of the lead shelter financing agency, Pag-IBIG Fund. It was a clear unequivocal admission from De Castro that he had cleared Lee’s project with the HDMF board that in effect would appear to have a misstep that implicated himself in the scandal. The premise, however, is that there would be a scandal that the government through its prosecuting agencies, that have been proven to be extensions of the Palace, would be allowed to proceed. De Castro confidently strode into the Senate hearing, knowing that there would be no way he would risk getting his well polished hair ruffled by the Senate inquiry. Key to De Castro’s confidence was his statement that Delfin Lee’s housing schemes with the government were not special accommodations but special projects. It seems to be a statement fed from somewhere to De Castro in the ridiculous attempt to absolve Lee by classifying his so-called “township” developments as government low-cost housing projects. So what could be driving De Castro’s full confidence that the GA mess would not prosper? Despite the tight watch on the development of the scandal from Vice President Jojo Binay who is currently Pag-IBIG chairman, Lee seems to have powerful forces negotiating with the Palace to get him off the hook and to write off the GA mess. De Castro is currently with ABS-CBN whose foundation has received huge support from Lee on its projects, primarily the setting up of the ABS-CBN Foundation headquarters and the Bayan ni Juan in Calauan, Laguna. Lee also has strong tie ups with ABS-CBN that include partnership in ABS-CBN’s reality show Pinoy Big Brother (PBB). The PBB house was built through GA funding and was derived from a unit of St. Monique Valais, which was one of GA’s flagship projects. Lee was also a big backer of actor Willie Revillame’s Wowowee when Revillame was still with ABS-CBN. In the Bigtime Pera o Bayong game portion of the Revillame show, the most coveted prize is a GA house and lot. ABS-CBN shows such as the Pinoy Dream Academy and Little Big Star had Delfin Lee as a major sponsor. The ABS-CBN is owned by the Lopez family whose influence with the Aquino family is unquestionable. De Castro has the best reason to move about confidently despite his name being linked in the GA mess because he knows that he is getting full backing from no less than Malacañang, if not Noynoy himself. The mess, however, does have a lot of loose ends, primarily the double sale of units of which was what Delfin Lee was being primarily accused. The strategy could very well backfire and involve all those who have made use of Lee’s influence during the previous administration engulfed in the scandal, including De Castro, who may have appeared to have been the link between Lee and government and Lee and ABS-CBN. Binay should not let up on Lee despite the powerful network that he commands since those taken advantage of are many Filipinos who had invested their money into a project to attain their dream house but which is an investment that became their worst nightmare. All those behind Lee, particularly current and former government officials, should be made to account. tribune.net.ph/commentary/powerful-forces-moving-on-ga
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 04:55:34 +0000
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