Ongpin wants DBP spokesperson disbarred

Former Trade Minister Roberto Ongpin will move to disbar a lawyer for her unauthorized representation of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and for a “false" statement she made, Ongpin’s office said Monday. In a statement, Ongpin was cited as saying they have “an airtight, open, and shut case" against lawyer Zenaida Ongkiko-Acorda, who was identified as DBP board counsel in previous reports. Reacting to Ongpin’s charges, Acorda maintained that she is DBP’s spokesperson and counsel, and that his imputations against her are “false and malicious." 'Not a DBP spokesperson' Ongpin’s office explained that Acorda “purported to represent the DBP when she had no authority to do so" at a press conference two weeks ago. In the press conference, Acorda allegedly handed out a five-page statement “replete with all kinds of malicious statements regarding the DBP loan to Ongpin." “Subsequently, in a press statement in the Philippine Daily Inquirer by officials of the DBP, it was pointed out that Atty. Ongkiko-Acorda was never retained by DBP as its counsel nor had ever been designated DBP spokesperson," Ongpin’s office said. In the same press conference two weeks ago, Acorda allegedly said DBP investigated the Ongpin loans upon instruction from the BSP, “deliberately neglecting to disclose that DBP had made the request and that the BSP had only responded to DBP’s request." Ongpin’s office noted that Acorda, “again styling herself as DBP spokesperson, retracted her statement regarding the BSP’s role," in a paid Inquirer advertisement a few days later. She then had to “admit the true facts, i.e. that it was DBP who had initiated the probe and only submitted its ‘findings' to the BSP." “The paid advertisement retraction clearly demonstrated the falsehood that Atty. Ongkiko-Acorda made in her press statement regarding the role of the BSP. She had made a bare-faced false statement and she was obviously required by the BSP to retract it to set the records straight," Ongpin’s office said. Easily verifiable Acorda, on the other hand, denied the former Trade minister’s charges. “Mr. Ongpin could have easily verified from DBP’s Management to confirm that I am indeed authorized by DBP’s Board of Directors to act as the Bank’s spokesperson and counsel," she said. The lawyer also cited the Solicitor General’s announcement in Monday’s issue of the Philippine Star that she “was deputized by the Office of the Solicitor General as one of the lawyers to handle this case." She said she also stands by the “truthfulness" of her statement to the media in reaction to Ongpin’s full-page advertisement on August 12. “His public threat of disbarment is an obvious attempt to embarrass me and our law firm and to divert the public’s attention from the real issue," she said. “But I am merely the spokesperson of DBP. May I suggest to Mr. Ongpin that, instead of shooting the messenger, he should just deal directly with the message," Acorda added. “And the message, as well as the real issue, is simply this: ‘How can an undercapitalized company like Delta Ventures with a paid-up capital of P625,000, losses P98 million, and retained earnings of P2.3 million obtain a P150-million loan and a P510-million loan from a government bank like DBP with extraordinary speed? Let him explain that to the Ombudsman," she said. — Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News