Bro, if you examine naman the financial statements of the banks during the Asian financial crisis, most of the earnings came from interest income, and not from non-interest income (trading of GS, ROPs, etc). Meaning, most of their portfolio pinasok talaga sa loans. Also, AFAIK, the BSP mandates a cap on how much a bank can trade on government securities, and obligado talaga silang magpautang to certain sectors (agri-agra, microfinance). Mas naging mapili lang sila on whom to extend credit during that time.