Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima has confirmed that he owns a 4.7-hectare property in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija.
However, he insists that the aerial shots used in earlier reports have decived people into thinking that his house is “grander” than it actually is.
“Purisima said he bought the lot in 1998 for about PHP150,000—when he was already in PNP. He started developing it in 2002,” reports ANC.
The report further added that “Purisima, who currently earns PHP107,000 monthly, explained that the assessor put the value of his house at PHP1.7 million.” He added though, that the value later “increased to PHP3.7 million due to construction costs.”
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Still, as the report noted, “critics say Purisima undervalued the property in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).” They say the property’s actual price could go beyond PHP50 million.
Yet, Purisima pointed out that the house built within the vast lot was hardly a mansion because it only spanned 204 square meters. His exact words: “Hindi po siya mansion. Ordinaryong bahay lang po siya na pina-improve lang namin ng paunti-unti over the years.”
Now, we don’t know if the house in the photo fits most Pinoys’ concept of an “ordinary house.” One thing’s for sure: Not all of us have a pool, not even a tiny one.
Purisima had likewise dismissed his pool, though, saying it’s not Olympic-sized because it’s “only 7.5 meters by 15 meters.”
Screengrab of photo from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Public Information Office (PIO), as posted on the ANC website
