BDO justifies Aguirre hand in Cebu cases

BDO Unibank Inc. on Wednesday said it had been compliant with laws and regulations, amid claims of Cebu Mayor Tomas Osmeña that Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II "interfered" with cases filed against the local lender.

"With regard to the cases filed by the Cebu City government against BDO  and its 85 directors and senior officers in Cebu City, the bank only exercised its legal right to an impartial and fair investigation by requesting the DOJ to designate an acting prosecutor to hear said cases," BDO said in a statement.

This developed after Osmeña said he would sue Aguirre before the Office of the Ombudsman for supposedly ordering a prosecutor from the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila to handle cases against BDO.

Osmeña in January last year filed cases against BDO's officers over the alleged under-declaration of the gross annual revenue and falsification of gross sales in a business permit application of one of its branches in Cebu in 2016.

In its statement, BDO defended its move to seek help from Aguirre, citing that it was within the bounds of the law.

"Pursuant to existing laws, the DOJ has the authority to act on such request and designate an acting prosecutor," it said.

"While the cases involved a local issue, BDO would like to emphasize that it has been consistently compliant with relevant laws and regulations both on local and national levels," it added.

Aside from BDO, Osmeña also filed charges against officials of SM Prime Holdings Inc.—another Sy-led company—for the alleged understatement of the size of SM Seaside City to cut tax obligations.

GMA News Online has reached out to SM for comment, but the company said it would first have to reach out to its legal department to clarify the matter. —NB, GMA News