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The Bank of Commerce branch in Davao faces complaints
from property owners who claim the bank sold their piece of real
estate to another buyer.
As it developed, spouses Emmanuel
and Linda Susan Antepuesto bought from the bank a 115-square-meter
property for P920,000 in January 2005, which they found out was also
sold to one Atty. Isagani Sembrano for P720,000 in August 2005.
In an interview with reporters,
Antepuesto said she filed a complaint before the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas in April last year against BOC Davao branch.
Antepuesto said “the offense
committee is grave enough for BSP to exact the necessary sanctions
on BOC, but the BSP is even more powerless to divulge the results of
its investigation.”
BSP could not comment on the case
as it is not allowed to divulge the findings, recommendation and
sanctions that will arise from the investigation under the Central
Bank Act.
To address this problem,
Antepuesto is pushing to file the case with the Regional Trial Court
of Makati, which is the only court covered under the couples’
contract with BOC.
“Only the court can ask to
disclose the result of the investigation. Our only last resort is to
file this to the court,” she told reporters.
Antepuesto said she has asked BOC
to return her total installment payments of P400,876, but BOC
offered to pay only P210,346, half of the amount.
“The bank grossly
violated the law when it issued notarized contracts for sale
involving one property and received payments of the two buyers
during the period of August 2005 to March 2007. These are serious
offenses that remedial measures and corresponding sanctions should
be exacted to the BOC,” she said.
Maximo Estrada, first vice
president of BOC’s property management group, could not explain in
clear terms how the double sale of property occurred as he was hired
only in July last year, but said, “The bank says that it was a
clerical error.”
The conditional deed of sale was
signed by Ricardo Dizon, BOC’s head of credit management sector,
and Michelle Tuazon, head of BOC’s property management group.
Tuazon had resigned.
As interest rates are low, more
Filipinos are purchasing housing loans offered by banks, but the
loan rates are still higher compared with BSP’s overnight
borrowing rate of 5 percent.
The Antepuesto property loan,
which is to be paid in installment for 10 years, has a monthly
interest rate of 10.6 percent and additional 3 percent for delayed
payment
The couple warned property buyers
about investing their hard-earned money. Before BOC, she was also a
victim of College Assurance Plan (CAP) pre-need educational plan.
--Maricel E. Burgonio
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