Vistan named Equitable PCI prexy

Veteran banker Deogracias N. Vistan was elected last night president and CEO of Equitable PCI Bank in place of former president Wilfrido Vergara who resigned earlier for health reasons.

At yesterday’s special stockholders’ meeting, acting president and CEO Edilberto Javier reportedly resigned from his post along with executive vice president Romuald Dy Tang.

Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Winston Garcia reportedly stormed out of what was described as a heated stockholders’ meeting. Garcia who objected to Vistan’s appointment, complained that management did not exercise due process in naming Vistan.

He said Vistan’s appointment will result in a mass resignation among the bank’s managerial people.

Vistan was reportedly nominated by another state-pension fund, the Social Security System. He was former president of Solidbank which merged last year with Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.

"Management was obviously pressured to accept Vistan while the rest of us were kept in the dark. Prior to this, there was no consultation, there was no shortlist of possible candidates that would have given us time to asses each one’s qualifications," Garcia said.

He said the Go family abandoned support for existing management and even "unfairly" blamed the latter for the bank’s current woes.

"I do not see the reason why Vistan’s appointment was rushed, there was not even a search committee and so when we attended the special stockholders’ meeting, they just wanted us to affirm Vistan’s appointment," Garcia added.

Garcia accused Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Rafael B. Buenaventura of intervening and pushing for Vistan.

Buenaventura lashed out at Garcia for insinuating that he was pushing for the appointment of Vistan as Equitable PCIBank president.

"I regret that he (Garcia) did not bother to call me before shooting his mouth off, he should have checked with me first and get my side," Buenaventura said.

Buenaventura said the BSP will not be meddling in Equitable’s management if the bank does not push through with plan to restructure its P30-billion assistance from the BSP, and instead, pursues a complete paydown plan.

Banking sources said Equitable PCI Bank opted for a complete paydown plan since this would eliminate intervention by the BSP, particularly on the constitution of its new board of directors.

Sources said the Go family, which owns about 30 percent of the bank reportedly wants to keep its allies and relatives on board which they cannot control if they agree to just restructure their loan.

Buenaventura said that BSP will have a say in the manner in which Equitable PCI Bank’s loan will be restructured because of the size of its loan to the bank.

"If they try to ask for restructuring of the loan, they will have to meet certain conditions that we will impose. But if they pay us down, we don’t care who they will choose to keep on board, we cannot interfere. Otherwise, the central bank will have to intervene in the management of the bank," Buenaventura said earlier.

The bank incurred heavy withdrawals when it suffered credibility problems last year for being a depository of the alleged jueteng payoff to deposed President Joseph Estrada.