DBP Lawyer Commits Suicide

[Monseratto]

Sino si Salvador "Buddy" Zamora? And how is he related to PNoy's Amoured BMW?

It is interesting to note that prior to Nunez’s appointment as DBP chairman by President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III, business mogul “Salvador “Buddy” Zamora II employed him as chief financial officer in one of his companies. And guess what? Zamora was a major, major campaign contributor to P-Noy’s presidential campaign in 2010.

Recently, Zamora’s name was mentioned in the news when it was alleged that he was willing to “donate” P50 million of his own money to entice Virgilio “Garci” Garciliano into testifying on the election cheating in the 2004 elections.

There is nothing wrong with that. But… But what is interesting to know is that recently it was reported in the news that DBP’s corporate banking group had refused to process a loan that was being arranged for Zamora, who is alleged to have racked up a P3-billion debt with DBP. Could it be that his former boss not getting a loan may have triggered Nunez’s erratic behavior?

[Monseratto]

If GMA has Enrique Razon, Pnoy has Buddy Zamora...

To The Point
Emil Jurado,
The Manila Standard Today
August 9, 2011
. . . . . . . . . . .

***

That a young and promising lawyer from the Development Bank of he Philippines has decided to commit suicide is tragic. The lawyer was overcome with guilt for executing a false affidavit as imposed on him by new DBP chairman Jose Nuñez Jr. and some members of the board.

Now the same incumbent bank officials are suing former DBP officials and board members, including businessman Roberto “Bobby” Ongpin for allegedly securing an irregular and behest loan of P660 million, in connection with the Philex Mining takeover by PLDT top honcho Manny Pangilinan.

It is clearly a cover-up. See how it came right after the suicide of lawyer Benjamin Pinpin? What an obvious way of distracting the public.

Is this how far Aquino appointees will go to pillory anybody affiliated with the previous administration?

Ongpin’s only fault was to make the DBP earn as much as P1.3 billion in a single transaction. His loans were fully secured with marketable securities valued at more than P1.87 billion or almost 2.8 times. At no time was DBP at risk. The normal collateral coverage ratio of DBP and other banks is only 2 times.

Further, the loans were priced at the prevailing DBP full rate of interest, and above all, were not only paid, but paid before maturity. The bank made P4 million in interest income alone.

***

But who is this Jose Nuñez Jr. who has sent a show-cause letter to some 20 senior managers of the bank?

I have never heard of any experience of Nuñez as a banker. Now, all of a sudden, he becomes the hitman of the Aquino administration against past officials and directors who were appointed by Mrs. Arroyo.

Nuñez was chief of staff of the youngest of the Zamora brothers, Salvador “Buddy” Zamora, who was a big contributor to the Aquino campaigning 2010. When payback time came, Nuñez got the plum post of DBP chairman.

This is clearly a witch hunt. The young lawyer Pinpin tragically became collateral damage. By the way, I have copies of those show-cause letters.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Nuñez and his cohorts want to link Ongpin and former DBP president Rey David to former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

Come to think of it, there was this complaint addressed to the Ombudsman and the Bangko Sentral of the Philippines by DBP “Concerned DBP Employees and Officials” that Nuñez had violated the Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and BSP rules and regulations by utilizing the planes of his former boss, Buddy Zamora.

Zamora is also a client of the DBP with yet-unpaid loans yet unpaid (it would be interesting to find out why they have not been paid).

That complaint was even published in The Manila Standard Today. Whatever happened to it? We have not heard more about it. What is BSP Governor Amando Tetangco doing with that complaint, may I ask?

Considering the fact that new Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is known for her probity, competence and independence, she should act on that complaint in the wake of the suicide of Pinpin who said, before he died, that he was coerced to give false testimony.

Frankly, I am at a loss why Ongpin should be dragged into this mess.

And how about all those non-performing loans including that of Nuñez’s boss (he was heard to refer to Zamora as still his boss)?

***
For the benefit of those who want to find out more about these loans by Ongpin, especially opinion writers and other journalists, who have been writing about this loan in connection with the Philex shares (considering that it’s about shares and their profitability), here are the facts on record:

Ongpin first made his first major acquisition in Philex in early 2007 by buying a 5 percent stake from BDO, which had been owned by PCIB, and which BDO had acquired earlier. Ongpin’s acquisition of that block was about P5 per share, an investment made for London-based fund manager Ashmore. He then bought from Ashmore the shares because the stocks of Philex started appreciating.

Ongpin then bought John Gokongwei’s shares, and his third acquisition was from Manny Zamora. Consequently, Ongpin, over a three-year period, organized financing of P4 billion, dealing with six banks, in addition to Ashmore, which he represents in the country. His total loans with DBP amounted to less than 20 percent of the total financing Ongpin had.

Ongpin knew that Manny Pangilinan wanted control of Philex and was willing to buy at premium. When DBP sold 50 million of its Philex shares, the daily trade a week before the sale was around P9-11 per share. Consequently, at the closing price of the transaction, it was already at P12.75 per share.

Note this clearly: DBP was happy to lock in profits so that the balance of DBP’s portfolio at Philex would be gravy, I repeat gravy, to the bank. Now, why should the former DBP president and the past board be faulted when DBP was making money? To blame David for not foreseeing that Ongpin would deal with Manny Pangilinan at P21 per share is the height of naivete.

This transaction only showed the business acumen of Ongpin and that of Pangilinan, who not only had full control of Philex, a very profitable mining concern, but had actually more than the doubled value of his investment.

Santa Banana, you don’t have to be rocket scientist to know when to deal! It’s common business sense, which many, including some columnists, and especially Nuñez and others at DBP, obviously don’t.

Why Ongpin and past DBP executives and board should be sued is beyond me.

[Ry_Tower]

^ And the plot thickens.

[uls]

Ongpin knew Pangilinan was willing to pay a premium for Philex shares

so Ongpin frontran Pangilinan -- buying up Philex shares everywhere (from Ashmore, from Gokongwei, from Manny Zamora, from DBP) to sell to Pangilinan at a profit

kinda like a scalper