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De Lima forms panel to probe BSP-Banco Filipino mess


Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has formed a three-man panel that will conduct a preliminary investigation on the charges filed by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Banco Filipino against each other with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Senior State Prosecutor Rosanne Balauag will lead the panel, with Assistant State Prosecutors Bernardo Parico and Agapito Fajardo Jr. as members. Under Department Order No. 282, the panel’s immediate task is to consolidate the two complaints. BSP and Banco Filipino are embroiled in litigation after the BSP’s Monetary Board and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. seized the bank’s real estate assets and placed it under receivership, supposedly to provide immediate relief to some 177,652 depositors on the ground that it has supposedly been on a bank holiday since March 15. In its complaint, Banco Filipino accused BSP and Monetary Board officials of violating Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) when it denied the grant of emergency loans needed by the bank under an emergency situation and when it eventually ordered the closure and receivership two weeks ago. Banco Filipino has been seeking P25-billion worth of financial assistance and regulatory relief as well as P19 billion in compensation for its alleged illegal closure in 1985. In its counter-complaint, the BSP sought the criminal prosecution of the bank’s directors for alleged willful refusal to file audited financial statements from 2002 to 2007. BSP also accused BF president Teodoto Arcenas Jr. and director Perfecto Yasay Jr. of falsification and issuance of false statements to hide the true financial condition of the bank; willful refusal to report loans; 26 counts of violation of BSP laws and directives and willful refusal to cease conduct of unsafe, hazardous and unsound bank practices. In a pending petition it filed before the Court of Appeals, BF is seeking the nullification of MB Resolution No. 372-A issued on March 17 which placed the bank under receivership and barred it from continuing its business operations in the country. The appellate court subsequently directed BSP and MB to submit their comments on Banco Filipino’s petition. - KBK, GMA News

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