Favila, Abacan get seats in Bangko Sentral’s Monetary Board

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Peter Favila, a former banker and trade secretary, and Antonio Abacan Jr, a former president of Metrobank, as the new members of the 7-seat Monetary Board.

Duterte on Wednesday, June 28, also retained former socioeconomic planning secretary Felipe Medalla as part of the board, giving him a fresh fixed term of 6 years.

Chaired by incoming Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr, the Monetary Board is composed of 7 members appointed by the President. It determines the purchasing power of Filipinos as well as protects the fast-growing economy from risks like capital outflows and higher US interest rates.

By law, the 7 Monetary Board members should be the BSP Governor, a member of the Cabinet, and 5 others who shall come from the private sector, all of whom should serve full-time for 6 years.

Abacan and Favila replaced Armando Suratos and former Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) chairman Alfredo Antonio whose terms are ending this year.

The newly announced appointments complete the membership of the board, which includes Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Juan de Zuniga Jr, and Valentin Araneta, and its would-be chairman, Espenilla, who will take the helm of the BSP on July 3.

Ex-UP dean Medalla retained

Medalla, who first served in the Monetary Board in 2011, was the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from July 1998 to January 2001. He also served as director of the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation, and as independent director of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation – a tollways unit led by tycoon Manuel Pangilinan.

A professor and former dean at the School of Economics of the University of the Philippines (UP), Medalla also served as president of the Philippine Economics Society and as chairman of the Foundation for Economic Freedom.  He was also a director of the Asia United Bank Corporation.

Medalla has undergraduate degrees in Economics and Accounting from De La Salle University, a masteral degree in Economics from UP, and a doctorate in Economics from Northwestern University.

Former DTI chief Favila returns

Meanwhile, Favila returns after 3 years to the Monetary Board, where he served as its member from 2008 to 2014. 

Besides serving as former Department of Trade and Industry chief from 2005 to 2010, Favila was once president of the Allied Banking Corporation as well as president and chief executive officer of the Philippine National Bank.

Favila was also a consultant to the BSP and CDC Holdings Incorporated, and was chairman and president of the Philippine Stock Exchange from 2001 to 2005.

Favila obtained his Commerce degree, major in Banking and Finance, from the University of Santo Tomas and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Ex-Metrobank chief welcomed

Another new member, Abacan, also held several high-level positions in the banking industry. He was the president of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank) of George Ty from 1993 to April 2006.

Before his stint in Metrobank, Abacan served as chief of the Philippine Savings Bank and Unibancard Corporation from 1988 to 1991. He is currently the group vice chairman of the Metrobank Group. 

He also served as president of the then-Philippine Drug Abuse Resistance Education (Phildare). Abacan was also an adviser at Thomas Cook (Philippines) Incorporated, Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corporation, Metropolitan Bank (Bahamas) Limited, and GT Capital Holdings Incorporated.

Abacan is also a senior adviser at the First Metro Investment Corporation, Federal Land, and Toyota Manila Bay Corporation. He also served as chairman of the board of Toyota Financial Services (Philippines) Incorporated.

Abacan earned his Business Administration degree, major in Banking and Finance and in Accounting from the Mapua Institute of Technology and Far Eastern University, respectively.

He received a Doctorate in Business Administration (honoris causa) from the Philippine Women’s University and is a graduate of the Executive Program of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1991. – Rappler.com