On fil-estate, on how it continually manages to dupe the unsuspecting, and how irate fil-estate clients should blog about how they’ve been royally screwed.

This is a post that’s long overdue. Sometime in 1997, I purchased a parcel of land in Antipolo developed by Bob Sobrepena’s company, Fil-Estate. Eleven years have passed, and the roads in Forest Hills  are yet to be completed;  there is no electricity available on our property, and no water. Needless to say there are no telephone lines availabvle. The last time I checked, there were less that ten houses in the entire subdivision - which isn’t much, given that there are easily more than 2000 lots in the entire project. Numerous calls to Fil-Estate have gone unreturned.  When one visits the Fil-Estate office in Pasig, you get the run-around.  No one can tell us when the project will be finished. No one will give a timetable.  No one with any decision making power will agree to meet with us. Clearly, this company is in financial trouble and does not have the resources to complete its obligations to its customers. Or perhaps - it just doesn’t care?

But what really stuns me is the obscene manner in which Fil Estate’s main shareholder, Bob Sobrepena, is thumbing his nose at his long-suffering clients. (which I’ll get to later)

I’ve since written off the parcel of land that I bought. But I know of too many people who are just too scared to speak up or complain, simply because they hope they can still negotiate a deal with Fil-Estate to return their hard-earned cash (even if it is without interest).  They file lawsuits, they complain quietly, but publicly - they’re just not going to speak up.  And because everyone  remains quiet,  Fil-Estate continues to do business, and it continues to dupe people who unwittingly fork over cash for housing developments that Fil-Estate will probably never complete!  

It’s bad enough that their Real Estate contracts are written in such a one-sided manner.  One buys a parcel from Fil-Estate Land, but Fil-Estate Land is not responsible for any promises made by Fil-Estate Marketing, the sales arm of Fil-Estate Land. In other words, Fil-Estate Land doesn’t care if their sales agents promise you  a huge recreational park and a clubhouse with 2 swimming pools, 10 tennis courts, a jacuzzi and sauna. If all they give you is a wading pool and a barbecue grill, that’s not their fault!  It’s the fault of their aggressive sales agents!

So if you run a company, and  your company is ailing, and you don’t have the cash to fulfill your obligations, then for god’s sake, you tighten your belt, you cut costs, you sell off assets. You do everything you can to honor your obligations to your customers, who have entrusted their hard earned cash to you.  But somehow, Bob Sobrepena doesn’t think that way.

Their game plan seems to be to squeeze as much as they can out of Fil-Estate, then hide behind a legal firewall. The very best locations at Camp John Hay - the officer’s housing - they don’t sell to the public. They reserve these for internal Fil-Estate use. Instead they try to sell off land that is impossibly close to the golf course.  When Bob Sobrepena stays at Camp John Hay, he stays in a six bedroom log cabin house - not at the John Hay Manor Hotel (where he has a suite).  He doesn’t drive down to Manila, like everyone else - he and his family take a chopper.  (I know, because I saw them with my own eyes). When he flies to the US, he goes first-class (I see him at the airport lounges).  (Hey Bob, I was the guy behind you in San Francisco Airport many years ago when the mercant refused to loan you a mobile phone because your American Express card had bounced.)

I think it’s time people really speak up - otherwise others will be duped. Blog about it!   The CAP fiasco has taught the Sobrepenas how to create a legal firewall that allows them to take their client’s money, siphon it out of a company, and remain immune from legal attack.  Emboldened by this, they’ve adopted this game plan in all their companies.  If you’re an aggrieved real estate client of Fil-Estate, it’s time to realize that your hard earned money is GONE GONE GONE!  Sadly, all you can do now is to stop the Sobrepenas from ripping off more people.