Ongpin decries DBP ‘witch hunt’
The supposed “behest” loans extended by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to a company of Roberto V. Ongpin were some of the “most profitable transactions” ever entered into by the government bank, Ongpin said Saturday.
More importantly, the former Marcos trade minister said, the P660-million loans extended to him earned for DBP at-market interest rates and were repaid way ahead of their maturity.
Ongpin is among the past and current officers of the bank charged with graft and violation of banking laws in a complaint filed at the Office of the Ombudsman and signed by Jose Nuñez and Francisco del Rosario Jr., DBP chair and president, respectively.
The complaint stemmed from the loans approved in one day during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
But in a statement e-mailed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Ongpin said: “The loans made to me and my companies were actually two of the most profitable loans that DBP has ever made to anyone.
“It is therefore beyond comprehension why Nuñez et al. chose these loans to point a finger at [former DBP president Reynaldo] David and myself.”
“Both of these loans were fully secured and at no time was DBP at risk,” added the businessman who, according to sources in the bank, is being hounded because of his friendship with Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo.
‘Witch hunt’
Ongpin decried what he called a “witch hunt” at the government financial institution, which purportedly drove Benjamin Pinpin, a midlevel legal counsel of DBP, to despair and ultimately to suicide.
“It is indeed most tragic that a young lawyer, with his entire future ahead of him, has decided to end his life because he could no longer bear the pressure of being coerced by Chairman Nuñez and the DBP board (some members, but certainly not all) to make statements and affidavits which in the lawyer’s own words were false,” Ongpin said.
“For someone to take his own life in this manner, one can only imagine the kind of pressure he must have been subjected to by Mr. Nuñez and his cohorts at the DBP board,” the businessman said, adding:
“This fact is indisputable and beyond question, as his own suicide letters to his wife and family bear out.”
P1.3B in trading gains
Ongpin took out the loans from DBP along with six other banks to help finance his acquisition of shares in Philex Mining Corp. He sold the shares to businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, allowing the latter to gain control of Philex, the country’s largest gold and copper mining firm.
The loans—made to Ongpin’s Delta Ventures Resources Inc.—earned for DBP over P4 million in interest income, and allowed the bank to earn an addition P1.3 billion in trading gains on its share holdings in Philex.
The transaction helped DBP report record profits in 2009.
Ongpin took out an estimated P4 billion in loans from six financial institutions, including the UK-based Ashmore Group, with the DBP component accounting for only 20 percent of the total amount.
“Thus, the persistent accusation that there was a sweetheart deal between DBP and myself simply does not hold water,” Ongpin said.
He added: “As I said, I borrowed from a total of six banks who were happy to lend me because my loans were fully secured and they have now all been fully paid.”
“I wish to inform Mr. Nuñez and his cohorts that I have been around a long time and have fought many battles before this. I assure them that this is one battle that I will see to its conclusion, because an innocent man has died and reputations have been impugned because of what they have done.”
‘Dystopia’
Ongpin also said he had received information that “substantial amounts … have been set aside to advance and promote DBP’s position.”
“If this is true, I would like to inform Mr. Nuñez et al. that it does not worry me one bit because I have no doubt that at the end, the truth will prevail and that the guilty will get the retribution they deserve,” he said.
In his own statement, former DBP president David said he would fight the charges against him “to the hilt, as they are hurting and causing pain to good and honest civil servants and their families who just want to serve our country well.”
“They have turned DBP into a dystopia. [Its] first semester’s results are extremely dismal,” David said. “They’re using subterfuge to cover nonperformance through sensationalism.”
If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please reach out to the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH). Their crisis hotlines are available at 1553 (Luzon-wide landline toll-free), 0917-899-USAP (8727), 0966-351-4518, and 0908-639-2672. For more information, visit their website: (https://doh.gov.ph/NCMH-Crisis-Hotline)
Alternatively, you can contact Hopeline PH at the following numbers: 0917-5584673, 0918-8734673, 88044673. Additional resources are available at ngf-mindstrong.org, or connect with them on Facebook at Hopeline PH.
