DBP urged to be transparent in loan probes

MANILA, Philippines - Former finance secretary Margarito Teves urged the current board of state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to be transparent in its ongoing loan investigations.

Teves, who served under the Arroyo administration, said it is the prerogative of any board to look at or evaluate transactions entered into by previous boards.

“But it would be helpful if the present board would communicate to the public the basis for determining which loans should be looked into based on a set of criteria on whether the transactions are legal, proper, beneficial to the bank and government, among others,” Teves told The STAR during the weekend.

During his time, the DBP extended a P660-million loan to former trade minister Roberto Ongpin.

The current board is claiming that the loan was disadvantageous to the bank but Ongpin and the previous DBP leadership headed by Reynaldo David have said that there was nothing irregular with the transaction.