RESPECTED business leader and known public figure Roberto de Ocampo was officially voted in last July 9 as the new chairman of the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB), a private commercial bank owned by some 400,000 World War II veterans and their heirs.
De Ocampo said his term marked "a fresh new beginning for PVB, with the aim of revitalizing the medium-sized commercial bank to be an active major player in the banking industry, not just locally but globally as well."
De Ocampo also chairs the board advisers of the RFO Center for Public Finance and Regional Economic Cooperation, an ADB Regional Knowledge Hub.
He served with the World Bank in Washington D.C. just prior to returning home to join the Development Bank of the Philippines as its youngest chair and chief executive officer, and subsequently appointed as the country's top fiscal manager during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos.
During his stint as finance secretary, De Ocampo was commended for helping the government's fiscal position from large deficits to surpluses. It was during his term that longest period of consecutive years of fiscal surpluses in the Philippines was realized.
De Ocampo designed and imposed the country's investment liberalization and privatization strategies.
As a testament to his contributions to government, Euromoney awarded him as the Global Finance Minister of the Year in 1995. He also received the honor of having been the Asian Finance Minister of the Year in 1996 and 1997 by Euromoney and Asiamoney.
He was also the president of the Asian Institute of Management.
A son of a World War II veteran, De Ocampo held a position as chairman of Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (Apec) and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Finance Ministers. He held a post as governor of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank.
De Ocampo was commended as the lone Filipino knighted by both the France and United Kingdom. He was conferred "Most Excellent Order of the British Empire" or OBE by the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 for his hard work in promoting Philippine-UK relations during his stint as public servant and as chair of the British Alumni Association. He received a commendation as Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor by the Republic of France for his promotion of links between France and the Philippines in the economic domain.
His current post as new chairman of Philippine Veterans Bank has already been hailed by the Veterans Federation of the Philippines. (PR)