Bangko Sentral fires back at Ongpin on frozen accounts

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday defended central bank Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. against accusations thrown by businessman Roberto Ongpin. 

 

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral said Ongpin "is wrong" when he singled out Espenilla "as the cause of the freezing of his (Ongpin) accounts."

 

Last Friday, the businessman and former Trade Minister of then-President Ferdinand Marcos threatened to sue Espenilla, claiming the central banker violated the anti-graft law. 

 

Ongpin claimed the violation occurred after the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) froze  his bank accounts even after Espenilla cleared the businessman of involvement in what were alleged as anomalous transactions with Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). 

 

"Mr. Ongpin is wrong. The CA (Court of Appeals) said probable cause exists to freeze the subject bank accounts based on the AMLC petition filed by the lawyers of the Office of the Solicitor General, the AMLC' statutory counsel," the Bangko Sentral said. 

 

Lawyer Rodolfo Ponferrada told GMA News Online the Ongpin camp is discussing the issue and will likely come up with a separate statement on the matter.

 

In September 2012, the Ombudsman issued a resolution finding probable cause to charge Ongpin among others in the criminal case filed by DBP against those supposedly involved in behest loans given by the state-run bank to buy shares of Philex Mining Corp.

 

Last month, the appellate court ordered a temporary freeze on about 100 bank accounts linked to Ongpin.

 

It is "unfortunate" that Ongpin finds the central bank's deferment of his confirmation as member of Philippine Bank of Communications board of directors as "unwarranted and patently unfair," The Bangko Sentral also said. 

 

Criticizing the central bank's decision, Ongpin left the board and later sold his shares. 

 

The monetary boards decision "clearly will undermine the operations of the bank and may result in major depositors losing confidence in the bank," the businessman  said last week. 

 

But the Bangko Sentral said the Monetary Board "simply deferred" the confirmation "pending completion of assessment of certain material information. 

 

"As an independent central monetary authority, the BSP has the responsibility to ensure that careful evaluation of critical elements is made before final decisions are promulgated," the central bank noted.  — With Siegfrid Alegado/VS, GMA News