A 2022 listing shows that the average price of lots for sale at Pinewoods Golf and Country Estate in Baguio is P34,000 per square meter.
Lots paired with golf shares are cuts of at least 600 square meters. The total price for such a package would be approaching P23 million. There are bigger cuts that are priced at more than P30 million.
An additional P20 million would somehow cover the construction and furnishing of a swanky mansion befitting such a lot.
***
When Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque faced the Senate investigation into Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations he admitted that he owns an interest in the corporation that owns the house and lot raided in Pinewoods that yielded two foreigners with POGO connections.
Roque said that the house is owned by a corporation named PH2, which in turn is owned by Biancham Holding and Trading Corp. – admittedly a Roque family corporation.
Why the property had to be layered twice by corporate fiction is a question that Roque and his wife can definitely answer. Mylah Roque is herself a former trustee of Pag-Ibig Fund.
***
Was the Pinewoods property purchased when Roque was still a top-ranking government executive?
If he was then it would help to check his statement of assets liabilities and net worth to see whether it is reflected either as a real or intangible asset.
It is public knowledge that corporate layering may be used as a device to hide ownership of valuable assets to evade public suspicion of enriching oneself while in public office.
***
Was the property purchased by the company in cold cash or through bank financing?
How many transactions have these corporations had so far in its existence?
In his Senate testimony Roque mumbled words to the effect that he recalls PH2 as the name of the corporation that owns the property because it is located in Phase 2 of Pinewoods. This strongly implies that PH2 was incorporated intentionally to own that piece of realty.
Roque will have more explaining to do should PH2 Corp. turn out to be a single-transaction corporation.
***
Roque’s answer was not responsive when asked by congressmen what led to Chinese personalities leasing the Pinewoods house. For example, was the house advertised for rental to generate income for PH2?
Sen. Risa Hontiveros has expressed bewilderment over the happenstance that a man wanted by Chinese authorities should end up living in a realty identified with Harry Roque. Roque’s name appears as counsel for a Pogo firm in official submissions to the government.
Hontiveros said that Sun Liming is on red notice by the international police for defrauding 100,00 people in China.
***
When did Liming actually occupy Roque’s house in Baguio? Does it coincide to the time when information on police operations in Central Luzon was leaked by high-ranking police officials allegedly on the take from POGO operators?
In which case, Roque may have crossed the line between being a mere lawyer and a coddler of people wanted by the law./PN
