Palace: Arrest of Delfin Lee legal

MANILA -- Malacañang maintains that the arrest of businessman Delfin Lee is legal.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte pointed out that the Court of Appeals' (CA) decision on Lee's case was on appeal, thus the warrant for his arrest was not recalled.

"I received several queries about this and the position of Pag-IBIG, DOJ (Department of Justice), and of government is this: that when the Court of Appeals handed down the decision stating that one of the five respondents should not have been included, thereby, making it seemingly impossible to prosecute for syndicated estafa which requires five. So lumalabas po apat na lang sila. Government appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The mode of appeal as lawyers like to call it was under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court. Thereby, hindi po naging final and executory dahil nagsampa tayo ng apela yung naging desisyon ng Court of Appeals," Valte explained.

"And proved positive of the fact that it did not become final and executory are two things: one, the warrant of arrest was not recalled, which is normally the case in case the quashing has been made final, hindi po siya ni-recall; at pangalawa, yung hold departure order against Mr. Delfin Lee was not lifted. We all know that hindi naman po kayo magkakaroon ng hold departure order kung wala din kayong nagiging paglilitis sa ating mga korte," she added.

Valte said Malacañang welcomes the development.

"I recall it, at one event, the President did mention: 'Na kahit kayo magtago, mahahanap at mahahanap natin kayo.' So this is a good step at least for government because finally cases can move. So at least, you know, they can -- efforts that used to be concentrated on finding this particular person can now be diverted to other persons that need to be tracked down."

She said this development should be a signal to complainants in the Globe Asiatique estafa cases not to lose hope.

"Siguro po prior to the arrest of Mr. Delfin Lee, yung mga nag-reklamo din po sa Globe Asiatique baka yan din po yung nararamdaman. Ngunit tingnan po naman natin yung biglang -- the sudden turn of events na...kagabi lang po nasa government custody na siya. So it will move on. Iyon nga ho ang sinabi ng Pangulo. While iniisip po nila na makakapag -- makakatakbo po sila at makakapagtago, mahahanap at mahahanap din po sila," Valte said.

Lee was arrested Thursday night by Task Force Tugis operatives in the lobby of the Hyatt hotel in Manila.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

De Lima to NBI: Proceed with manhunt vs Delfin Lee

MANILA - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has reminded the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to proceed with the manhunt for Globe Asiatique's (GA) Delfin Lee and his co-accused in a syndicate estafa case pending with a Pampanga trial court in connection with P6 billion in alleged questionable loans given to GA buyers by the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG Fund).

Speaking to reporters at the Department of Justice (DOJ), De Lima said the non-bailable case against Lee; Cristina Sagun, GA documentation chief; Christina Salagan, former GA documentation dept. head; Atty. Alex Alvarez, Pag-IBIG employee; and Lee's son, Dexter is very much alive.

De Lima cited a recent Supreme Court (SC) temporary restraining order (TRO) on a Court of Appeals (CA) ruling junking the case against Sagun which would have made the number of accused merely 4, or one person short of the minimum requirement of 5 for a syndicated estafa case to prosper.

"I reminded the NBI to proceed with the manhunt for Lee and his co-accused. Wala pa sa kanila nagsu-surface or voluntarily submit to the jurisdiction of the Pampanga RTC. The TRO is meant to enjoin the implementation of the CA decision; since restrained ang CA resolution, the case stays...

"Therefore, there is no legal impediment now on the part of the [Regional Trial Court] Pampanga to proceed with the case of syndicated estafa," De Lima said.

Lee is considered a fugitive from justice. Malacanan has announced a reward of P2 million for any information that may lead to his arrest.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Criminal case against Globe Asiatique a separate issue - Pag-IBIG

MANILA, Philippines - Pag-IBIG Fund on Tuesday said any ruling on the civil case it filed against Globe Asiatique's Delfin Lee and co-defendants does not have any bearing on the criminal case against them.

"I am compelled to clarify that whatever the decision may be in that civil case, it will not be prejudicial to the criminal case for syndicated estafa we filed earlier against Delfin Lee and his co-defendants," Darlene Marie B. Berberabe, chief executive officer at Pag-IBIG Fund, said in a statement.

Berberabe was reacting to news reports saying a Makati Trial Court recently ruled in favor of Globe Asiatique over civil cases filed by the Pag-IBIG Fund against the property firm.

"As of today (December 26), we have yet to receive our copy of the alleged decision," Berberabe said.

She explained that the Court of Appeals in April already ruled that regardless of the resolution of the civil case filed in the Makati court, it will not extinguish any criminal liability Delfin Lee and his co-defendants will be found to have.

"Assuming there is an adverse decision, Pag-IBIG will undertake the necessary legal remedies in order to question the same before the higher courts," Berberabe said.

"The resolutions of the issues in this civil case are far from being final and executory. Pag-IBIG is confident that in the end, justice will prevail. And we shall shall remain vigilant in protecting the Fund and its members," she added.

source: abs-cbnnews.com