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Friday, April 30, 2004
Banks had lapses: report
By KAREN M. FLORES
Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Giovanni A. Nilles
THE ad hoc committee report of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines (GSP) Cebu Council noted the “participation” not only of a few council officials in the allegedly questionable transfer of public funds, but also of two banks involved.
The Land Bank of the Philippines-Banilad and BPI-Capitol “allowed the withdrawal of huge
amounts from the GSP account in the absence of a board resolution,” which reportedly allowed Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez to get her hands on a total of P26.5 million from her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
“Due diligence by the banks concerned was not exercised, thereby not implementing existing bank laws and procedures. They also failed to investigate and inform in writing the account holder, GSP Cebu Council,” the report further said.
Diligence
However, the absence of a resolution does not necessarily mean there was “lack of diligence” on the part of the banks, an official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Cebu regional office said yesterday.
What is important is that the person or persons who signed the withdrawal slips were authorized signatories, said the official whose work involves overseeing the operation of commercial banks.
An officer of the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI)-Capitol, meanwhile, said they maintain that all their transactions with GSP, a long-time client, “have been in order.”
The officer, who asked not to be identified, also said there were “errors” in the facts in the committee report as reported by the media, but she declined to elaborate on these because just like GSP-Cebu, they already consider the issue closed.
In a separate interview, former Cebu provincial prosecutor Oliveros Kinta-nar said Martinez cannot be pinned down for malversation of public funds.
“Her admission is to her benefit. It indicates that there was no fraud or intent to defraud the government,” he said.
Kintanar, who was at the Palace of Justice yesterday, said that for a case of malversation or technical malversation to prosper, the element of deceit and fraud must be present.
The GSP ad hoc committee had said that in the first two tranches of P7.5 million each, Land Bank-Banilad allowed Martinez (Cebu, 4th district) to withdraw the entire P15 million from GSP’s trust fund even without the “knowledge and approval of GSP Cebu Council board of 2002.”
The report said the first voucher for P7.5 million was approved and signed by Martinez, then president, and three other officers including incumbent GSP-Cebu president Paz Radaza, who was then treasurer.
A check payable to cash was issued and received by Martinez. From this amount, the congresswoman donated P400,000 to GSP (P200,000 in cash and P200,000 in a Land Bank check).
The second P7.5 million tranche, meanwhile, was withdrawn through a check payable to Martinez. This time, GSP received P200,000 from the congresswoman.
The third tranche, consisting of P11.5 million, was deposited in GSP’s trust fund at BPI-Capitol before this was transferred to Martinez’s personal account at BPI-Pasay.
Martinez earlier explained that she suggested this arrangement after it was determined that GSP actually had no share in the P11.5 million.
To facilitate the transfer of the money back to Bogo town, which she said was the intended beneficiary, she proposed an inter-branch BPI transfer of the funds and that she would personally take care of returning the amount to Bogo where her son Celestino “Tining” Martinez III is mayor.
The BSP official said a resolution is not necessary for every bank transaction involving the accounts of groups, corporations and foundations because this would be too tedious.
When the account is opened, the official said the authorized signatories are identified through a resolution. Unless the authority is later revoked, the signatories are recognized by the bank.
“We cannot conclude at once if there was anything irregular about the transactions as far as the banks are concerned,” the BSP official further said.
(April 30, 2004 issue)
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