Pinoys in UAE cautioned vs. PHL property schemes

Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates may have to think more than twice before biting offers to invest in properties in the Philippines.


“I urge my fellow Filipinos to be very careful. We know many of you aspire to buy and own a home, but let’s not be blinded by that dream,” said Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Grace Princesa in a report on The National.

The National cited the case of OFW Aldo Magaspar, who paid to own a P1.065-million three-bedroom home in Cavite City.

Magaspar, a cargo assistant at Sharjah airport, reportedly dealt with an agent who met his wife via Facebook.

Gone to waste

“I never imagined this would happen to me after more than a year of paying off the monthly equity. All my hard-earned money had all gone to waste,” he said.

He said he paid a reservation fee of P10,000 to get the unit on a pre-selling phase, and paid a monthly equity of P8,133 in 15 months.

Last December, he was told the next step would be a monthly amortization of P12,700 in 10 years. He paid off the monthly equity in October 2013.

Magaspar eventually decided to back out and cancel the contract, and ask for a refund. The agency, however, refused a refund, saying the cancellation of the contract was voluntary on his part.

Appeal to real estate agencies

Meanwhile, Ambassador Princesa also appealed to real estate agencies to screen their applicants and not to sell property to those who could not afford it.

“I would like to thank them for helping Filipinos to realize their dreams, but then they should not be driven by profit alone,” she said.

She added they should "sit down with their clients and spend some time crunching the numbers.”—Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more