ShareThisQUEZON CITY (PinoyNews) — Newly reelected Senator Loren Legarda is facing another graft complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman.
If the first complaint involved her alleged “hidden” expensive condo unit on 77 Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York City worth P30 million, this new charge against her involves her expensive mansion in Forbes Park.
Both cases of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman by Louis Biraogo of Binan City, Laguna who claims to be a public interest advocate.
Biraogo expressed confidence that the Ombudsman would find prima facie evidence to indict Legarda before the Sandiganbayan.
Legarda, whose real name is Lorna Regina Bautista Legarda, denied both charges, claiming that they were never hidden and, in fact, were included in her SALN. Legarda even hinted that a fellow senator was behind the expose on the Manhattan property as part of a black propaganda against her during the election campaign.
Biraogo alleged in his complaint that Legarda failed to declare the expensive properties in her SALN, an offense that led to the ouster of Chief Justice Renato Corona last year.
It was gathered that Legarda allegedly used shell company to hide her ownership of the multimillion-peso mansion in Forbes Park, the subdivision of the rich and famous in Makati City.
In his complaint, Biraogo accused the lady senator of not declaring the mansion in her SALN from 2007 to 2011.
Biraogo said that on paper, the Forbes Park mansion is owned by Loren Legarda and Associates Inc. (LLAI) but he claimed that the public relations firm has “no employees, no operations, no business activities and no transactions” since its establishment by the senator in 1986. The senator declared that she owned shares of stocks in LLAI worth P249,000.
He said Legarda identified the Forbes mansion at No. 40 Cambridge Circle as her residence in the invitations she sent in hosting a dinner for East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta in 2009.
Senator Franklin M. Drilon, meanwhile, deplored the continuing efforts to smear the reputation of Sen. Loren Legarda through black propaganda despite the conclusion of the 2013 midterm elections.
“I am saddened and appalled by the continuing efforts to discredit Sen. Loren Legarda through the use of black propaganda on matters related to the entries of her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), even after the elections are over,” said Drilon.
“I hope we can move forward now and put the political hostilities of the campaign period behind us.” Drilon added. “The Filipino people have spoken. We must now work together in pushing for the legislative reform agenda of President Aquino. There is a lot of work to be done to improve the lives of our people, especially the poor and the marginalized.”
Drilon was apparently referring to the second graft case filed against Legarda last Monday before the Office of the Ombudsman by a self-proclaimed public interest advocate who said the senator allegedly used a shell company to hide her ownership of a multimillion-peso mansion in Forbes Park, the swank village in Makati City.
In the complaint for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Louis “Barok” Biraogo accused Legarda of not declaring the mansion in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN) from 2007 to 2011.
According to Biraogo, the Forbes property is owned by Loren Legarda and Associates Inc. (LLAI), a public relations firm that has “no employees, no operations, no business activities and no transactions” since its establishment by the senator in 1986. He said Legarda identified the Forbes mansion at No. 40 Cambridge Circle as her residence in the invitations she sent in hosting a dinner for East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta in 2009.
In a statement, Drilon echoed the statement of Legarda that the second graft case filed against her was another case of “black propaganda.” Legarda denied the graft raps and insisted that the Forbes property, owned by Loren Legarda and Associates, was reported in her SALN.
“That Senator Legarda reported her ownership of shares in the Loren Legarda and Associates Inc, which it turned out is the owner of the Forbes Mansion, is a valid way of reporting one’s assets in the SALN,” said Drilon.
“Having known Sen. Legarda as an outstanding and dedicated public servant, I am certain she can validly explain her assets and liabilities in the face of this continued barrage of black propaganda against her,” Drilon said.
In his first complaint in the Ombudsman filed on May 6, Biraogo accused Legarda of failing to declare in her SALN from 2007 to 2011 a P36-million condominium unit in Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. The three-bedroom condo unit was acquired for $700,000.
A check with Legarda’s SALN for 2012, it appeared that the Manhattan property was now listed as a residential apartment located in the “USA” with an acquisition cost of P28.7 million.
Legarda’s SALN has an annex where her “personal and other property” with a total value of P67,481,803 were listed. She indicated in the document that she had shares of stock in LLAI worth P249,600.
“Personal and other property” also included cash on hand and in banks, a motor vehicle, jewelry, antiques and artworks, investment in shares of stock, receivables from advances, private insurance and “real property-USA” earlier disclosed.
Legarda said she also had shares of stock in the Manila Polo Club (P2 million), Tower Club (P350,000) and Bai-A-Labi Corp. (P622,365).
The senator, not LLAI, is the true owner of the Forbes mansion, according to Biraogo in his complaint, citing her admission to journalist Joanne Rae Ramirez in an interview published on April 28, 2007, in Philippine Star that she owned the mansion.
Biraogo alleged that Legarda could not have possibly afforded both the New York condominium and the Forbes mansion.
“The question is where did Sen. Loren Legarda get the money to buy a Forbes Park mansion, as well as a condo in an exclusive area in Manhattan where the Rockefellers and Trumps also have properties?” Biraogo asked. “From her annual pork barrel fund of P200 million multiplied by her years as an incumbent senator?”
Biraogo challenged Legarda to follow Corona’s example of initially refusing to admit the dollar accounts because “I am sure that like Corona before her, Ombudsman Morales would expose Legarda’s hidden foreign currency bank accounts.”
“Lady Corona cannot twist the facts and hide the truth that she is the sole owner of the New York condo as reflected in the deed of sale, contrary to her declaration in her SALn where she says she is only a one fourth owner,” said Biraogo.
“With her monthly salary of only P75,000 during her incumbency as senator from 1998 to 2004 and with the prohibition on her working for an income outside of the Senate during the said time frame, it’s impossible for Legarda to suddenly have P36 million or $700,000 to buy a condo unit.”
“Where did Legarda get the money? From public funds? From her pork barrel? Is this the reason why for five long years she has hidden her ownership of the NY condo from her falsified SALn?,” asked Biraogo.