Palace wants CA to reconcile conflicting rules on Banco Filipino reopening

MANILA, Philippines - While openly against the reopening of Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank, Malacañang wants the Court of Appeals (CA) to reconcile its two conflicting rulings on the matter.

“There are two divisions right now ruling on the same matter. So I think that should be resolved first by the CA,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said yesterday, referring to the CA’s voiding of a Makati City court order for a P25-billion government assistance to Banco Filipino. 

A CA decision issued last Jan. 27 directed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to reopen the bank - shut down in March 2011 - and provide it with P25-billion assistance. The BSP is contesting the CA ruling.

While the issue may be an “internal” matter among justices in the two divisions of the appellate court, Lacierda said a clarification is necessary in the light of the “conflict between one division over the other.” “Procedurally, I think that has to be resolved. If you’re looking at one issue being decided by two courts of both competent jurisdiction, that has to be resolved first,” Lacierda stressed. “Certainly we believe in the position taken by the BSP,” he said. “We believe that BSP did not commit any error in that judgment to close down Banco Filipino,” he said.

“We know for a fact that the government does not agree with that decision,” Lacierda added, referring to the Jan. 27 CA ruling.

He admitted he is not aware whether the same set of issues have been raised in the two CA divisions.   “If they’re dealing with the same issue then I think that should be resolved by the CA. So I’m sure there’ll be pleadings filed by either party,” Lacierda said.

The second CA ruling upheld a previous ruling nullifying a Makati City court’s order for the BSP to release P25-billion financial assistance to Banco Filipino.

The CA’s former Special Tenth Division, in a resolution penned by Justice Hakim Abdulwahid last Feb. 16, turned down due to lack of merit Banco Filipino’s motion for the CA to reconsider its July 2011 decision that barred Makati Judge Joselito Villarosa from taking cognizance of the case. 

Concurring with the ruling were Associate Justices Noel Tijam and Ricardo Rosario.

“We have carefully reviewed our decision vis-a-vis the instant motion and the comment filed by petitioners BSP and the MB, and we found that the issues raised and the arguments advanced are mere rehash of those already considered and passed upon, and no new issues or substantial arguments have been presented to justify the reversal or modification of the assailed decision,” the CA said in its resolution.

In its July 2011 decision, the CA said that the Makati RTC has no jurisdiction over the petition for certiorari and mandamus filed by Banco Filipino, saying the case should have been filed with the appellate court, pursuant to Rule 65, Section 4 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure.

Earlier, the CA had denied the petition filed by Banco Filipino stockholders to stop the implementation of MB Resolution No. 372-A issued on March 17, 2011 that placed the savings bank under receivership.

Banco Filipino claimed that BSP padlocked the bank to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling in 1991 directing BSP to reorganize the bank.

Under Section 84 of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act, the BSP is allowed to grant emergency loans to banking institutions in serious financial pressure, such as Banco Filipino, as long as they are not insolvent.