Legal Action by the PhilRES Against Violations & Illegal Acts by the PRBRES and PRC Versus Existing National Policies For the Creation & Supervision of the AIPO for the Real Estate Service Sector

Letter of PhilRES National President Rodolfo G. Valencia (copy) to PRC Commissioner Yolanda D. Reyes Regarding Violations and Illegal Acts by the PRBRES and the PRC in Violation of Existing Laws and Policies

Hon. Yolanda D. Reyes

Commissioner-in-Charge of the Real Estate Sector

Professional Regulation Commission

P. Paredes St., Sampaloc, Manila

Subject:  Legal Action by the PhilRES Against Violations & Illegal Acts by the PRBRES  and PRC Versus Existing National Policies For the Creation & Supervision of the AIPO for   the Real Estate Service Sector

Dear Commissioner Reyes,

I write on behalf of the National Directorate of the Philippine Institute of Real Estate Practitioners, Inc. (PhilRES). The Directorate met on December 14, 2015 and were informed of your letter dated November 27, 2015 which was addressed to their national president Rodolfo G. Valencia.

After thorough discussion of the background of the letter and its implications, the National Directorate voted to protest in the strongest possible terms and take the necessary legal action against the initiative/s implied in your letter in order to protect the interest and rights of PhilRES and its 10,000-strong membership of record.

NO to the Creation of a New AIPO Pending Action on the Legitimate PhilRES Petition for the Renewal of its Status as the AIPO for the Real Estate Sector

Your letter reeks of bad faith. You ask PhilRES president Valencia to go along with a scheme that would pave the way for the creation of the Board of Trustees of a new entity – ostensibly a new AIPO –  while the PhilRES Petition for Renewal of its Status as AIPO remains officially unacted upon for more than a year now, thus depriving the PhilRES of the due process guaranteed by no less than PRC Resolution No. 19 which was issued, duly signed, and promulgated in the Official Gazette by all the members of the Professional Regulatory Board for the Real Estate Service and all the commissioners of the Professional Regulation Commission.  

Did you really expect the national directors of the one and only duly accredited AIPO of the real estate service to simply roll over and play dead and let you organize an entirely new AIPO while its legitimate Petition for Renewal was simply ignored and did not even merit any official acknowledgement, much less favorable action, by the PRBRES or by the PRC?

Did you assume that the PhilRES directors do not know their law and the legitimate policies that govern the AIPO in compliance with RA 9646 and its IRR?  

More specifically, did you think that the PhilRES directors have not been aware of the continuing series of violations of the law and acts of bad faith against the duly constituted AIPO by the PRBRES Chairman, Dr. Eduardo G. Ong, and specific members of his board for the past four years now?

Are you not aware that you now have made yourself complicit of some of such violations and acts of bad faith?  How else would you now justify your own efforts to create a new AIPO with the connivance of a so-called Unity Council that you established arbitrarily from among various stakeholders with dubious credentials and who purport to represent organizations that clearly do not meet the criteria for the AIPO that were laid down by no less than the PRBRES itself and approved by the PRC?

No less at stake is the fundamental principle that the AIPO is an association of natural persons and not of associations. This has been fully explained and promulgated by no less than the PRC itself through its Resolution No. 19 and affirmed by Congress itself through its House Resolution No. 299.

Are you now willing to compromise this fundamental principle through the illegal process that is being fostered by some of the stakeholders, with clear signs of abetting and tolerance by no less than PRBRES, and now, sadly, by your own good self?

PhilRES is Left with No Choice but to Seek Redress with the Ombudsman and the Courts of Law

In light of the foregoing, the PhilRES National Directorate is, therefore, left with no recourse but to bring its case to the appropriate courts of law for proper redress.

It is too bad that the goodwill manifested by PhilRES President Valencia to dialogue with your good self and PRBRES as well as the opposing stakeholders in order to seek appropriate solutions to the lack of unity and harmony in the real estate service sector appears to have been misunderstood and abused. From the start, Mr. Valencia made it clear that he was willing to explore all avenues except those that would be in violation of the law and legitimate national policies.

Attached please find a letter to the immediate past PRC Chairman Dr. Florentino Doble which PhilRES president Valencia submitted about a year ago today. It details the violations and acts of bad faith by Chairman Ong and hoped that PRC could effectively help bring about order, legitimacy, consistency, fairness, and professionalism of the highest order in PRBRES and its supervision of the AIPO and the real estate service sector.

In all candor, when you were appointed Commissioner-In-Charge of this sector, PhilRES felt renewed hope that its just cause would finally receive proper attention and action.

Sadly, the recent developments have proven otherwise.

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.)

RODOLFO G. VALENCIA

PhilRES National President