Camp John Hay Development Corporation
(CJHDevCo) Chairman and CEO Robert John Sobrepeña was asked to disembark from a
plane prior to take-off May 11, amid malversation charges filed by the
Department of Justice.
The plane was bound for the United States.
CCTV footage from the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport showed Sobrepeña, a Filipino-American, being held up at
Immigration as officials checked documents.
He was allowed past Immigration, but was
later shown by security cameras returning to Immigration and exiting the
premises after he was evicted from the airplane.
The Bases Conversion and Development
Authority, which filed the original charges before the DOJ, hailed the news.
“His attempted departure speaks volumes about
his involvement in the Camp John Hay malversation case. We will remain vigilant
until he and his cohorts are brought to justice,” said Arnel Paciano D.
Casanova, President and CEO of the BCDA. “We applaud the Bureau of Immigration
for their swift actions in making sure that Mr. Sobrepeña was kept from leaving
the country so that he may be made to account for his fraudulent deals.”
Casanova added that Sobrepeña’s attempted
flight to the U.S. is “a sign of bad faith and indicative of guilt” given that
the CJHDevCo head called a press conference in Baguio City the day before his
flight attempt, and vowed to fight the malversation raps.
“First he declares that he will fight [the
charges], and then he tries to run the very next day, before the case can even
be raffled and without having been arraigned? He is clearly a flight risk,
trying to delay the court process. This is a textbook display of obstruction of
justice,” Casanova remarked.
On 15 August 2012, the BCDA filed 52 counts
of malversation against the Board of Directors and officials of CJHDevCo and
its subsidiary, Camp John Hay Hotel Corporation (CJH Hotels).
The 22-page complaint stated that the
CJHDevCo directors and officers, even after the lawful demand of the BCDA,
refused to return the public properties to the government. These properties are
16 units of the CJH Manor Hotel and 10 units of the CJH Suites Hotel which have
a total value of P121 Million. The hotel units were payments in kind or dacion
en pago made to BCDA in 2008, as partial settlement of CJHDevCo’s unpaid rental
obligations.
The complaint further stated that CJHDevCo
continues to earn from these units but refused to provide the liquidation of
public funds—revenues that it earned from the use and lease of the 26 units.
On April 1, 2013, the DOJ approved the filing
of two counts of malversation of funds, stating that “In the instant case,
respondents' delayed remittance of the rental income of BCDA despite repeated
demands did not extinguish their criminal liability for malversation of public
funds. Again, it should be noted that the respondents did not provide any
sufficient explanation for the said remittance. Thus, they are presumed to have
malversed the rents due to BCDA for the period mentioned above under leaseback agreement."
CJHDevCo officials Ferdinand Santos, Alfredo
Yñiguez III and Emily Roces-Falco were also charged with malversation.
“We will be just as driven and committed in
the pursuit of this case, as we are rallying against impunity and championing
good governance,” Casanova said. “The thwarting of Sobrepeña’s flight attempt
is a moral victory for us. An indictment will be an even bigger triumph for the
BCDA and, more importantly, the victims of malversation. ”
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