Manila councilor charged with estafa

A councilor from the first district of Manila was charged with estafa through falsification of public documents for allegedly claiming a piece of property and selling it to others without the approval of the real owners.

Assistant City Prosecutor Desiree Dayag-Macaraeg recommended that bail be set at P40,000 for Councilor Arlene Koa.

Complainants Pepito Lim, his wife Clarita Santos and Gina Santos were reportedly the registered owners of a 125.9-square meter parcel of land at the corner of Dagupan and Balaya streets. In October 1999, they constructed a four-story building and rented it out to tenants.

In November 2002, they decided to sell the land and building. They tried to terminate the tenants’ lease agreements and told them to vacate the premises.

The complainants then decided to solicit the help of Koa, who became a city councilor in 2001, to sell the property. They reportedly turned over the original documents to her. They tried to arrange meetings with Koa, but they said they had difficulty finding her.

On July 16, 2003, Lim and his wife went to see Koa, who denied any knowledge about the property. Koa said she gave the papers to barangay chairman Eugene Maningas, who had already died. Koa said the papers might be with Sta. Lucia Realty since Maningas used to work there.

The complainants met an employee at the registry of deed, who allegedly told them that the title of the property had been transferred to Koa’s name and was sold to Friedrich Santos for P3.9 million.

Koa denied the complainants’ allegations and said Lim gave Maningas full authority to sell the property.      – Evelyn Macairan