By Roy Pelovello

CONTROVERSIAL Mayor Celso de los Angeles of Sto. Domingo, Albay, has sold his newspaper printing press, even as the House of Representatives warned him he would be arrested if he failed to appear in a congressional hearing set for tomorrow.

De los Angeles sold the Goss Community SSC printing press for an undetermined amount to National Press Club president Benny Antiporda, who acquired majority ownership of the tabloid Remate, which used to be owned by former congressman Prospero Pichay, said a source familiar with the transaction.

The source said Antiporda bought the press as part of a partnership deal, where he gets 51 percent of the tabloid from the group that acquired the paper when Pichay divested his holding. The group is led by the paper?s editor-in-chief Rey Briones.

The source said the sale of the printing press had nothing to do with the controversy hounding De los Angeles, who was warned by Speaker Prospero Nograles to appear in the House hearing on the collapse of 13 rural banks that are linked to De los Angeles? Legacy group of companies.

Nograles said De los Angeles, who did not show up in the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries hearing on Friday, should explain why and how his banks ran aground and answer questions on allegations he had committed unsound banking practices.

?Legacy group owner Celso de los Angeles must appear in the House probe or face arrest. He must attend the House hearing on Feb. 3 to clear the air,? Nograles said in a text message to reporters.

?Due process requires all sides must be heard so that legislation can be crafted to plug loopholes or deficiencies in the banking and financing industries,? Nograles said.

The banks, which allegedly offered rates that would allow a depositor to double his money, closed voluntarily last December and were taken over by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. this month.

These banks held a combined P14.032 billion in 132,642 insured bank accounts, the PDIC said.

The banks linked to the Legacy Group are Rural Bank of Para?aque, Rural Bank of San Jose (in Batangas), Rural Bank of Carmen (in Cebu), Pilipino Rural Bank (in Cebu), Philippine Countryside Rural Bank (in Cebu), Rural Bank of Calatagan (in Batangas, now Dynamic Rural Bank), Rural Bank of DARBCI (in General Santos City), Rural Bank of Kananga (in Leyte, now First Interstate Rural Bank), Rural Bank of Bisayas Minglanilla [now Bank of East Asia], San Pablo City Development Bank, Bicol Development Bank, Nation Bank (in Bacolod City) and Rural Bank of Bais.