President Aquino appoints banker to head PDIC

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed a banker to head the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). Valentin Araneta will replace Jose Nograles Jr. as PDIC president and chief executive officer, a Malacañang statement said Saturday. The statement said Aquino signed Araneta’s appointment papers on May 30, a day before Nograles’ “irrevocable resignation" took effect May 31. “The incoming PDIC chief earned his A.B. Economics in 1971, and took M.A. Economics Program at the Ateneo de Manila University after graduation. He also studied Advanced Management Program at Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania," the Palace said. Araneta became the vice president and general manager of the Philippine National Bank’s (PNB) International Department and Finance Management Office in 1982. He later became the senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of PNB in 1998. Araneta also served as president and chief operating officer of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. from July 2000 to June 2003 and became its executive vice president and treasurer from July 1999 to July 2000. Prior to his PDIC appointment, he was also the independent director of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. since April 2004. Also, he serves as the chairman of Islands Merchants Corp., a Nestle distribution company for Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. He also became a member and treasurer of the board of trustees of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City. — JE, GMA News