MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the petition filed by former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr. and several other former officials of the Banco Filipino, questioning the issuance of arrest warrants against them over alleged violation of banking laws.
In a three-page resolution, the appeals court’s former 9th Division said the petition was premature because a motion for reconsideration is pending before a Manila court regarding the deferment of issuance of an arrest warrant. Pending resolution, Yasay and his co-accused want Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Danilo Leyva to suspend the proceedings.
Yasay and his co-accused are facing a case for violating Republic Act 8791, or the General Banking Law, and Republic Act 7653, or the New Central Bank Act, in connection with an anomalous P350-million loan from Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgages Bank.
The Manila court issued in August an arrest warrant against Yasay, et al. The respondents then took their case to the CA.
At the appeals court, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in its comment that the petition is premature because Yasay and his co-accused still have pending motions before the lower court.
“In fact, the petitioners just moved for the suspension of the proceedings before the court a quo until the said motions are resolved,” BSP’s comment noted.
The CA, in dismissing the petition, said that “the premature invocation of the intervention of the Court while said motions are still unresolved is fatal to the instant petition.”
The decision is written by CA Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas, Jr. and concurred in by CA Associate Justices Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez and Geraldine C. Fiel-Macaraig. /kga
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