The Silent (Scammer) Billionaire

      As of 2007, Andrew Tan was ranked number four in the list of the Philippines top 40 richest men. His fortune came from the restructuring of the holding company Alliance Global and his shareholdings in Megaworld, and McDonald’s among other companies. The son of a factory worker who had to walk to campus because he could not afford the bus fare, he certainly can now buy bus companies by the tens of dozens with his estimated net worth of more than US$ 1.1billion.

     Empire East Land Holdings is one of the many developer companies under Megaworld conglomerate.

     Some years ago, the Phillpine Daily Inquirer called Tan a "silent billionaire" in its business feature about him. But for the thousands of OFW families, middle income earners, and foreigner families duped into buying the substandard earthquake and flood prone tenement buildings at the price of a condo, Tan should NOT be silent about where he got his millions!

      

     For a son of a factory worker, he should be the first person to understand how hard-earned money goes into the hands of the poor, the middle class, and the OFW families. But he didn't care, his companies still sucked the money from the their victims and until now, devices more ways to suck more.

     Maybe its karma, because Andew Tan was included in the first plunder case against former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the anomalous sale of the old Iloilo airport property in 2007.

     His friendship with Arroyo only tells us how he used his connections to continually cheat the people.

      

     The scam at Cambridge in Cainta have hurt so many people and their families. And they are still hurting up to now.  

     On October 14, a month after the cease and desist order of the HLURB was issued for the 6th time, since 2005, Empire East still has the gall to sell the units and tell the people that they will get their title after their full payment.

     They are not allowed by law to sell anymore! And there is and will never be a title issued to the unit owners because Empire East has no proof of ownership of the earthquake prone and floodgates land where Cambridge is sitting on.

     A disaster waiting to happen, with more people at risk, Cambridge could be hit hard with its substandard structures built only for 4-storey buildings but in reality are up to 10 storeys high.

     This anomaly has to stop. And Andrew Tan should return the people's money instead of sitting on it.

The SCAM of CAMBRIDGE CAINTA

With 165 unit owners who were duped into buying what they thought was condominium units at Cambridge Villa Condominium in Cainta, Rizal, developer Empire East Land Holdings Inc., is still selling their tenements to OFW families, foreigners with Filipina wife, and middle income families for the price of a real condo. Six months ago, there were only 69 complainants, now the number has risen to 165, and still counting.

For that very expensive price of a condo, Cambridge unit owners are given tenement style homes that are substandard and doesn't adhere to the building code. Worse, the buildings are located right above an earthquake belt, and two floodgates.

Empire East’s marketing strategy is to con and dupe the clients and show them model units from well built condos and tell the customers that in two years, or after the full payment of the condo, they will be able to get their titles.

But what title could Empire East give their clients, when the company has no proof of ownership and other groups are claiming the land?  For so long, Empire East has been duping people into buying the tenement at the price of condos that are built over a dangerous earthquake belt, and over two creeks.

The Cambridge condo buildings lack drainage system, and the two creeks that run inside the area were leveled and blocked with filling materials, ten meters wide and 10 meters deep, damning the flood water during the typhoons  Ondoy and Peping on September 2009.

During the typhoons Ondoy and Peping, P500 million worth of vehicles, personal belongings, and other propertiesof the unit owners were destroyed.

Cracks on the walls of the buildings only show how the substandard construction and materials used in the tenement style condos are slowly deteriorating. And there's no earthquake yet

The swimming pool, up to now is unsanitary because it was constructed 8 feet below the ground and there is no drainage system to siphone the dirty water out and no water system to replenish it with clean water.

And the unit owners pay for its maintenance but couldn’t use it.  For three years, the water was never changed and has become breeding ground for mosquitos.

The building clusters were all designed and planned for medium rise condominium,which means they are supposed to be only 4-storey high.  But when Empire East saw they could make bigger money, it raised the building into 12-storey high, without strengthening the foundations of the buildings.

With only the capacity of a 4-storey building, the raised 12-storey condos are very dangerous and could collapse at the next strong earthquake of 7.5 magnitude.

Since 2005, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board has been issuing Cease and Desist Order to Cambridge because of its dangerous and substandard buildings.

condos are not supposed to crack. but cambridge has all the cracks

But instead of improving their buildings, Empire East still sell the units, targeting OFW families, Filipinas who are married to foreigners, and middle income Filipinos who were duped into buying what they thought were condos, but are really substandard tenements with cracked walls, lack drainage system, and located in a dangerous area of Cainta.

The unit owners who have been complaining and demanding that they get their money back are ignored by the government offices that are supposed to help them.

During the Arroyo Administration, Empire East’s Chairman of the Board Andrew Tan, has been linked as a close friend of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

We are hoping that in this administration, PNoy could extend a helping hand to the unit owners who have been duped by the Empire East.  We are, after all, the people, who he said were his boss.

What makes the area more dangerous now is the substandard materials used int the construction of the buildings