Court orders arrest of 13 ex-DBP officials

MANILA, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan Third Division issued arrest warrants late Monday, July 29, against 13 former officials of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and two private defendants who were charged earlier with two counts of graft in connection with alleged questionable grant of P660 million loans to Deltaventures Resources Inc. (DVRI).

Covered by the warrants were former DBP chairperson Patricia Sto. Tomas; board directors Alexander Magno, Ramon Durano IV, Floro Oliveros, Renato Velasco and Benedicto Ernesto Bitonio Jr.; senior assistant vice president Perla Soleta; assistant vice president Teresita Tolentino; branch banking sector (BBS) manager for regional marketing center (RMC)-Western Luzon Arturo Baliton; RMC-Metro Manila assistant managers Warren De Guzman, Rodolfo Cerezo and Marissa Cayetano; and RMC-Western Luzon chief accounts management specialist Nelson Macatlang.

Also ordered arrested were private defendants DVRI president Josephine Manalo and Goldenmedia Corp treasurer Ma. Lourdes Torres.

Court sources said Sto. Tomas, Tolentino, Cayetano, Macatlang, Soleta, Oliveros, Manalo and Torres have all posted bail bonds of P40,000 for each case.

The warrants were based on a six-page resolution issued by Associate Justices Jose Hernandez, Samuel Martires and Maria Cristina Cornejo affirming the existence of probable cause to proceed to trial proper.

Ongpin’s previous bail

The rest of the defendants who posted bail ahead of the issuance of the warrants were  businessman Roberto Ongpin, former DBP president and board vice chairman Reynaldo David; former senior executive vice president and chief operating officer Edgardo Garcia; board director Miguel Romero, Franklin Velarde and Joseph Donato Pangilinan; former senior executive vice president and marketing sector head Armando Samia; former senior executive vice president Rolando Geronimo; former senior executive vice president marketing head for branch banking sector Jesus Guevarra II; and former vice president and regional marketing center-Metro Manila head Crescencia Bundoc.

In filing the charges last January, the Ombudsman held that the accused DBP officials approved under dubious circumstances two loan applications of DVRI for P150 million in April 2009 and P510 million in November 2009.

Investigators said DVRI was undercapitalized and the values of its collaterals did not comply with the collateral-to-loan ratio prescribed by the Central Bank and DBP’s own policies.

The Ombudsman said there were also hints that the borrower resorted to corporate layering to secure the loan and that the proceeds of the second loan were used to purchase stocks of Philex Mining Corp owned by DBP itself, raising suspicion of insider trading. – Rappler.com