Lee vows to pursue quest for justice

MANILA, Philippines - The lawyer of Delfin Lee believes the Supreme Court (SC)’s rejection of his plea for oral argument on his petition to stop his indictment on syndicated estafa charges would deprive the public of the truth behind the P6.6-billion Home Mutual Development Fund (Pag-IBIG) housing controversy.

Speaking to reporters, lawyer Willie Rivera yesterday said Lee will pursue his quest for justice and vowed to get vindication.

“We will move on,” he said.

“But we will continue to seek appropriate legal recourse in our pursuit for justice and fairness. We accept the decision of the High Court in not granting us the chance for oral argument.”

Rivera said the SC’s denial of their motion for oral argument is a drawback in their desire to show the justices and the Filipino people that Lee has not defrauded the government of a single centavo.

“Had the SC allowed us to orally argue these points and gave us the chance to be publicly heard, we will let the public learn the truth and put an end to Pag-IBIG’s unending efforts to misinform and mislead everyone,” he said.

Rivera said Lee is innocent of the “fabled” charges.

“There is no such thing as P6.6-billion damage sustained by Pag-IBIG,” he said.

“They never claimed such amount from us. There are no ghosts or fictitious buyers, but only defaulting buyers whose borrowings were approved and processed by Pag-IBIG itself.  

“And there is no double sale, as defaulting buyers were simply replaced by new buyers and Pag-IBIG has full knowledge about all these transactions as they are directly involved in the entire loan process.”

In session last Tuesday, SC justices decided to deny Lee’s motion for reconsideration for lack of merit.

The SC dismissed Lee’s claim of a “compelling need to set the said consolidated cases for oral argument,” and that it was necessary “to simplify the intricate issues brought about by the different facts and grounds relied upon by the parties in each of the petition.” – With Cecille Suerte Felipe