PCGG opposes PNB, Allied Bank merger

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) has asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to stop the merger between Philippine National Bank and Allied Banking Corp., which it claimed was part of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family.

PCGG Commissioner Gerard Mosquera wrote the BSP and the SEC days ago ahead of the separate stockholders meetings of PNB and Allied Bank, both controlled by taipan Lucio Tan,  scheduled for today to approve the merger of the two banks.

“We push for the merger not to happen. If Allied Bank is absorbed by PNB, the recovery of the ill-gotten wealth will be virtually impossible,” Mosquera said, showing reporters copies of his letters to the BSP and the SEC in a press briefing on Monday.

The PCGG presented to the BSP and the SEC the grounds for its opposition, including evidence submitted to the Sandiganbayan in relation to the ill-gotten wealth case, Civil Case No. 005.

The shares of stock owned by Tan and other stockholders of Allied Bank, which are presently under litigation before the Sandiganbayan, were alleged to be part of the ill-gotten wealth of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

Mosquera said that if the government were the beneficial owner of the shares of stock in question, any merger with another corporation should be approved first by the government.

“Without this approval, any merger is null and void,” the PCGG commissioner said, citing Section 77 of the Corporation Code.