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Casiño wants BSP to stop giving out ‘harebrained’ loans

By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA NEWS

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Prompted by the Aquino administration’s $1 billion pledge to the IMF, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño on Tuesday proposed amendments to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas charter.
 
The amendments would effectively ban the BSP from lending money to foreign financial institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank “to the prejudice and detriment of local enterprises.”
 
Casiño himself called the $1 billion IMF pledge a “harebrained idea.”
 
“Our finance officials borrow and lend money without even consulting Congress. This should stop. This is public money, and the people should have a say on how it is to be used,” Casiño said in a news statement.
 
The lawmaker made this proposal as the Philippine government pledged $1 billion to the IMF to help address the debt crisis in Europe. 
 
The government’s move was met with opposition by various sectors, saying the money should instead be used to provide social services to Filipinos.
 
“Dapat itigil na ng administrasyon ang pagpapapogi sa mga dayuhan habang naghihirap ang taumbayan,” he said.
 
Malacañang however stood firm on its plan to give out the IMF loan, saying it can indirectly help overseas Filipino workers in economically troubled European states. 
 
Commendation
 
On the other hand, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez filed a resolution on Tuesday commending the government for its decision to lend the $1 billion to the IMF.
 
In House Resolution 2522, Golez said the administration’s decision is proof of the Philippines’ “stature as an emerging tiger economy of the world.”
 
“With the historic and unprecedented act of lending $1 billion to the IMF, the Philippines stands proud and tall in the community of nations, thus, enhancing our standing as an investment haven,” he said.
 
He added that the loan is not an expenditure, but rather “an investment that adds to the coffers of the government.”
 
Golez’s resolution must be approved by a majority of House members for it to be adopted by the lower chamber. — DVM, GMA News
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