Bunye moving to BSP's Monetary Board on June 22
By Christine Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 17:19:00 05/11/2008
MANILA, Philippines--Press Secretary and presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye will join the Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Philippine central bank), starting June 22.
Bunye said on Sunday he would stay on as presidential spokesperson before joining the Monetary Board in June.
"In addition, the President has asked me to serve in the interim as presidential adviser on political affairs, a post now being held by Secretary Ronaldo Puno in a concurrent capacity,'' Bunye said in his "View from the Palace column.''
He said he would announce his successor as press secretary in the next few days.
Bunye's announcement came two weeks after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo confirmed that a Cabinet revamp was forthcoming.
Bunye said that as early as October 2007, he and President Arroyo had been discussing his possible move to the Monetary Board.
"This is a matter which I have discussed with the President since last year to fulfill a wish of going back to banking, a career which was cut short by the Edsa Revolution, which led to my appointment as OIC Mayor of the Municipality of Muntinlupa by then President Corazon Aquino,'' he said.
He acknowledged that his background as a banker had been probably obscured by the fact that he had held different positions for the past years.
Bunye served as municipal and then city mayor of Muntinlupa for 12 years. At that time, he also served as chair of the Metro Manila Authority, the predecessor of the Metro Manila Development Authority.
Bunye then became the first congressman of the lone district of Muntinlupa in 1998.
A lawyer by profession, Bunye has served in various executive positions at the Ayala Group of Companies, including as assistant vice president of the Ayala Investment and Development Corp. and the Bank of the Philippine Islands.
"Before I accepted the post of OIC Mayor of Muntinlupa shortly after the Edsa Revolution, I was assistant vice president in the Bank of the Philippine Islands from 1983 to 1986, doing corporate finance and before that, I was assistant vice president in the Ayala Investment and Development Corp. from 1980 to 1983, handling international operations,'' he said.
"During those years, one of my principal responsibilities was to arrange foreign currency financing for prime Philippine companies in coordination with offshore banking units (OBUs), among them Bankers’ Trust, whose country manager at that time was former Finance Secretary Lito Camacho."
Bunye said it was an honor and pleasure to serve in the team of President Arroyo.
"As I have expressed many times in the past, I can and will continue to serve President Arroyo in any capacity. I totally believe in her ability to govern this nation and to make the bold and difficult decisions to move it closer to first world status by 2020,'' he said.
Bunye formally assumed the post of presidential spokesperson on Jan. 20, 2003.
He previously held the position of the press Secretary from July 16, 2002 to Jan. 19, 2003. On Aug. 24, 2004, he was again appointed as press Secretary and concurrently as spokesperson.
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