Noli: HGC could have leaked draft deal for housing project

The draft for the supposed "midnight deal" on the development of the former dumpsite in Manila could have only been leaked to media by the Home Guaranty Corp (HGC), Vice President Noli de Castro said Saturday. "May nag-leak sa Home Guaranty [Corp]. Sino namang iba? Sila pa lang ang gumagawa [Someone from the HGC leaked the document. Who else could it be? They are the only ones who have it so far]," De Castro said in his radio program on radio dzMM. He said the HGC, a government-owned-and-controlled corporation, is among the agencies reviewing the memorandum of agreement for the P6-billion Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP) that will convert the former dumpsite into a housing complex. The vice president and several housing officials were charged on Friday before the Ombudsman with graft and corruption in connection with the MOA that was allegedly riddled with compromises. [See: Noli accused of graft over Smokey Mountain compromise deal] But De Castro argued that the MOA for the SMDRP cannot be considered a “midnight deal" because it has not been signed yet, as it is still in its early stages. He said the draft MOA is still with a technical working group for evaluation. After the review, the TWG is supposed to submit its recommendations to the HGC, which in turn would study the proposal further. De Castro acts as HGC's ex-officio vice chairman and also sits as Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman. He said his office and the office of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have not yet obtained copies of the supposed draft agreement. GMANews.TV tried reaching HGC's legal department and corporate services group for comments, but the agency was not answering calls as of this posting. Spare me In his radio show, De Castro asked his detractors to spare him from controversy, especially now that he is on his way out of the vice presidency. Succeeding him is outgoing Makati mayor Jejomar Binay, who will take oath along with President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on June 30 at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. "Huwag naman. Pipitong araw na lang ang ihahakbang ko. Transition period na eh [Don't do this to me. I have seven days left in office. It's already the transition period]," De Castro said. The vice president said he ended up being the "collateral damage" in what he believed was a war among business interests, saying: "Ang nakikita ko salpukan ito ng negosyante." De Castro said he was not protecting or harboring personal interests in pushing for the completion of the Smokey Mountain project. "Bakit naman ako isasama diyan eh hindi ko naman negosyo iyan. Bakit kailangan ka pa siraan eh paalis ka na," he added. He said he was confident the new administration under Aquino would pick up where they left off with the SMDRP. — LBG, GMANews.TV