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 THE BARBERS family may have financed
the acquisition of properties probably from
businesses outside of Surigao, Ponciano Casurra,
Surigao City mayor, told Newsbreak.
Of the senators’ children, however, only
Ace appears to have businesses of his own. SEC
records indicate that Ace has interests in Vintage
Specialist Inc., Ace-Alpha International, and
Bagel Holdings Corp. Of the three, only Vintage
was ever listed in the congressman’s statements of
assets and liabilities (SALs). Vintage is a
brokerage firm while, based on its articles of
incorporation, Ace-Alpha is engaged in wholesale
and retail.
Barbers indicated in his SALs from 1992 to
1994 that all his relatives are "gainfully
employed in private firms." But among his sons,
only Ace indicated in his resumé that he was
employed in a private company at one time. Ace now
occupies his father’s former seat at the House of
Representatives.
The resumé of Robert Lyndon Barbers,
Surigao del Norte governor, showed that he served
as his father’s technical assistant in the House
of Representatives and at the DILG.
Dean was a consultant at the Philippine
Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) during the
Ramos administration. Elected Makati councilor in
1998, he ran for vice mayor of the city in 2001
but lost. Last year, the President appointed him
general manager of the Philippine Tourism
Authority, considered a plum position because it
has its own funds, derived from 50 percent of the
travel tax.
How the sons could have helped their father
acquire his current properties given their
government salaries is anybody’s guess.
Robert Ace Barbers’s latest SAL indicated
that last year (2002) he spent 17 million pesos on
a new house and lot in Quezon City; an additional
500,000-peso acquisition under "various
condominiums," and 350,000 pesos for a lot in
Surigao del Norte.
The 14.47-million-peso increase in his
liabilities that same year could probably account
for this. A source working for a real estate firm
told Newsbreak that the property is located at
Megaworld Corinthian Hills near Green Meadows and
is actually worth 20 million pesos.
When he was tourism director for the
National Capital Region, Lyndon bought golf club
shares and a lot at the Fil-Estate Sherwood
Hillsin Tanza, Cavite, a source who used to work
for the company told Newsbreak. The total cost:
2.5 million pesos.
Fil-Estate employees who processed the
papers remember this because when he was asked to
produce documents supporting his capacity to pay,
Lyndon sent in an official receipt for a BMW that
he had just purchased. Newsbreak was scheduled to
interview the governor during a visit to Surigao
but he cancelled the appointment.
The youngest Barbers child, 23-year-old
Mary Grace, now married, owns her own condominium
at Robinsons Place, Malate, Manila. She is the
only child of the senator who is not in government
service.
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