DBP Lawyer Commits Suicide

[Monseratto]

PNoy et al obsession to pin down the previous administration...

No foul play in DBM lawyer's death -- police
By Dennis Carcamo Home
Updated August 03, 2011 10:01 AM

MANILA, Philippines - A police official said today that there is "strong evidence" that Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) lawyer Benjamin Pinpin committed suicide.

"He's inside te comfort room of the hotel room, lying face down with a nylon cord tied around his neck," Las Piñas City police chief, Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, told philstar.com in a phone interview.

The body of Pinpin, 43, was found by policemen inside the comfort room of the Eurotel in Las Piñas City yesterday.

Sapitula said Pinpin also left suicide notes for his wife Amelia, his children and mother before taking his own life.

He said the DBP lawyer dropped his two children to school Monday morning then hugged them long and tight before getting on his vehicle.

"His wife became worried when he did not come home in the afternoon, which he usually does, so she called for our assistance," Sapitula said.

Amelia also called her husband's office, but the DBP staff told her that he was not still in, the police official added.

"Later we traced his vehicle parked in the parking lot of the hotel," Sapitula said.

He said that scene-of-the-crime investigators noted that Pinpin was already "less than six hours dead" when they found his body.

"He apparently hanged himself using the nylon cord which snapped because it was thin," Sapitula said.

In a statement issued yesterday, DBP chairman Jose Nuñez Jr. said that police have initially told them that Pinpin's death was "under unusual circumstances."

Nuñez hinted that the timing of Pinpin's death was suspicious since he was involved in a "crucial investigation concerning previous questionable transactions."

"So, we are hoping that his passing had nothing to do with that," the DBP chairman said.

He said Pinpin was a key player in the DBP legal office. He added that the lawyer was a second generation employee of the bank since his mother was the DBP dentist.

"President Francisco del Rosario Jr., the whole DBP Board and I are in agreement that Atty. Pinpin is a key player in the DBP legal office and a big loss to the bank," Nuñez said.

[oliver1013]

I think 90+% of pinoys want to pin down the previous admin that's why Pnoy won...ikaw ayaw mo bang ipakulong ang taong ninakawan ka?

Nahuli ng mga pulis ang akyat bahay gang member na nagnakaw ng flat screen TV mo ayaw mo pakulong?

[Monseratto]

It would be nice to see the Arroyos and their minions behind bars, but I hope the student council won't do it it through coercion, threat or trump up evidences... I guess the poor lawyer couldn't take the pressure that's why he decided the easiest way out.

[niwde11]

It would be nice to see the Arroyos and their minions behind bars, but I hope the student council won't do it it through coercion, threat or trump up evidences... I guess the poor lawyer couldn't take the pressure that's why he decided the easiest way out.

+1. but the student council thing will always be a wish.

[badsekktor]

i see things differently.... tying up loose ends maybe?

[oliver1013]

Wala pa naman lumalabas na nagsasabing na coerce siya or may threat kaya kumanta....so until that happens, all is good..

[Ry_Tower]

I think 90+% of pinoys want to pin down the previous admin that's why Pnoy won...ikaw ayaw mo bang ipakulong ang taong ninakawan ka?

Nahuli ng mga pulis ang akyat bahay gang member na nagnakaw ng flat screen TV mo ayaw mo pakulong?

+1,000,000!

TAMA! Mainit talaga topic na yan pero dapat kasi mapakita sa taongbayan na may matinong hustisya pa rin if gusto talaga. Kahit dyan na lang makabawi si Pnoy. Magsikap na lang mga negosyante at middle class para hindi tuluyang lumobog pinas.

[Ry_Tower]

i see things differently.... tying up loose ends maybe?

Tingin ko din may pressure na siya or family niya. Kaya loose ends yan. Gaya ni Gen, hindi kinaya yung pang-iiwan sa ere.

[badsekktor]

Tingin ko din may pressure na siya or family niya. Kaya loose ends yan. Gaya ni Gen, hindi kinaya yung pang-iiwan sa ere.

ilan pa kaya ang susunod na mag-suicide?

[Monseratto]

To do that is a indescribeable act...

He said the DBP lawyer dropped his two children to school Monday morning then hugged them long and tight before getting on his vehicle.

More like overzealous to appease the king. The lawyer was investigating for anomalies, not the other way... Baka inutusan gumawa ng ...., di kaya ng konsyensya niya.

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino wants to find out what led to the death of Benjamin Pinpin, a lawyer for the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), who is said to had unearthed anomalous transactions of the past board.

Aquino is tasking Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to find out if the investigative process has become “overzealous.”

“If they have been overzealous, we will rein them in. But if they are performing something that is necessary… ‘Yung zealousness of the board also, is to get a handle as soon as possible on what has transpired. Kasi dulo niyan may responsibilidad sila to keep that bank strong… Conflicting yan in a sense, alagaan mo ang karapatan ng bawat isa, pero yung need also to know everything as soon as possible to prevent any damage or any further damage from happening,” Aquino told reporters.

“So we will review, and I’ll task Cesar Purisima this afternoon to review whether or not they have been too overzealous.”

At the same time, Aquino appealed to the DBP’s rank and file to cooperate with the current board in efforts to investigate anomalies.

“Ang hinahabol po natin dito ay hindi mag-usig ng kahit sinuman lalo na sa rank and file, pero para malaman nga kung ano yung nangyari diyan, ano ba ang damage ang nangyari sa inyong institusyon. Sa dulo po nito, para mailagay kayo sa mas mabuting kondisyon,” Aquino said.

PNoy asks: DBP lawyer's death linked to anomalies? | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

[Ry_Tower]

ilan pa kaya ang susunod na mag-suicide?

Sana wala na, kumanta na lang since sikat naman PGT ngayon eh.

[oliver1013]

Tindi ng clout ni GMA..

[creepy]

Maraming nagagalit sa imbestigasyon, including some reporters with the Inquirer (be very careful with what you read there concerning some favored business characters -- very obvious who they are leaning in favor of). I wonder why...??? Close friends siguro sila...??? Hahaha.

The truth should come out. The media people bashing the investigation in order to stop it must not be allowed to hide the truth. The DBP people who granted behest loans to favored cronies of GMA shouldn't get away with it.

[niwde11]

ilan pa kaya ang susunod na mag-suicide?

hmm for sure meron pero di natin alam gano kadami.

re: clout GMA. i think di lang clout nya. remember corroption is already there kahit di pa sya presidente. do you think the like of garcillano e naging corrupt lang nung 2004. kaya nga nilalapitan ng kung sino mang gusto manalo e kasi alam nilang kayang magmaniobra/magdeliver ng boto. so for me, medyo malalaki kasing tao sa likod ng mga anomalya na yan ang maapektuhan(pati na mga pamilya nila). so talagang kung sino ang weakest link, sya bibigay. just like what happened to angelo reyes. kesa madamay ang pamilya/pma e pinili na lang nya magsuicide. para sa kanya me respeto pa syang natira nun.

[Ry_Tower]

hmm for sure meron pero di natin alam gano kadami.

re: clout GMA. i think di lang clout nya. remember corroption is already there kahit di pa sya presidente. do you think the like of garcillano e naging corrupt lang nung 2004. kaya nga nilalapitan ng kung sino mang gusto manalo e kasi alam nilang kayang magmaniobra/magdeliver ng boto. so for me, medyo malalaki kasing tao sa likod ng mga anomalya na yan ang maapektuhan(pati na mga pamilya nila). so talagang kung sino ang weakest link, sya bibigay. just like what happened to angelo reyes. kesa madamay ang pamilya/pma e pinili na lang nya magsuicide. para sa kanya me respeto pa syang natira nun.

Tama, nilaglag kasi si Gen. Reyes kaya hindi na niya nasikmura na siya lang igigisa pero yung iba free pass!

Mas maganda lumantad na lahat para mabigat kaso tapos kapag hahatulan na, titirik mata ng dapat tumirik! hehehe

[oliver1013]

Tama papakamatay ka na rin lang, isama mo na lahat ng ka kuntsaba mo, nakatulong ka pa sa bayan. Ngayon kung wala ka naman dapat itago at kasalanan e laban lang.

Ang kriminal ba na nakorner at nagpakamatay, kasalanan ng pulis na humahabol sa kanya?

Pag mabagal ang takbo ng hustisiya nagrereklamo tayo, pag tinatrabaho, tapos may nagpakamatay kasalanan nanaman..

[renzo_d10]

Doing so ( killing yourself ) just implies that you're guilty of something. In my opinion, though I may be wrong, being stressed out too much of something you aren't guilty of, supposedly, should not lead to taking your own life, instead, if you are really sure of what your stand it - not guilty - then you should fight for your right or for the truth.

He said the DBP lawyer dropped his two children to school Monday morning then hugged them long and tight before getting on his vehicle.

^ It's a good move to implant sympathy on people.

Again, in my opinion, I'd rather see myself killed by someone else because I said the truth rather than taking my own life with the truth unfolded.

But then, that's just me. Some might prefer to avoid unveiling what's really real to avoid any unwanted circumstances for the family they have left.

[Monseratto]

Again, the lawyer was not under investigation. He was tasked to come out with the dirt the previous DBP board may have done and link it to the previous administration. He was under a lot of pressure by the present board that drove him to commit suicide.
e.

[oliver1013]

He killed himself because he was pressured to produce something out of nothing?

Eother this guy is really weak or he knows something that will implicate powerful people...but i doubt na weak lang, this guy is trying to hide something.

[Monseratto]

Parang he was being set-up, he was being used to pin down the previous board. He was being threatened/BLACKMAILED with a criminal case if he does not "cooperate"...

DBP lawyer 'pressured' to testify against former bank execs
abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines - The chief legal counsel of Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) confirmed that the bank lawyer who was found dead in an apparent suicide on Tuesday was caught up in an ongoing investigation aimed at pinning down previous management for alleged anomalous transactions.

ABS-CBN News quoted Belinda Tejada as saying that lawyer Benjamin Pinpin wrote about his predicament in a letter to his wife before he took his own life. Pinpin was reportedly being pressured to sign a document that would divulge highly irregular transactions approved by the previous DBP bosses, including a P500-million loan awarded to a reputable businessman.

Tejada, in an interview, said the witch hunt forced Pinpin to commit suicide.

"I know for a fact that the real target here is the previous administration, previous board of directors... especially former president Reynaldo David," she said.

Pinpin, 43, strangled himself with a nylon cord in a bathroom of a Eurotel hotel along Zapote-Alabang Road in Las Piñas City on Tuesday, police said.

The DBP said in a statement that Pinpin appeared to have died "under unusual circumstances" and that he was part of a probe into "previous questionable transactions" made by the bank. Reports earlier said Pinpin was also among more than a dozen people who received show-cause letters from the new DBP board in relation to the questionable transactions.

Pinpin's wife, Amy, said her husband was under a lot of pressure. "Yung asawa ko talaga pressured. So the pressure he has been feeling, and I understand that, if I were in his situation, probably I'd do the same."

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to find out whether the investigative process at DBP has become "overzealous."

“If they have been overzealous, we will rein them in. But if they are performing something that is necessary... ‘Yung zealousness of the board also is to get a handle as soon as possible on what has transpired," he said.

Current DBP president Francisco del Rosario, for his part, said he will ensure that due process is given to anyone involved in the investigation.

"I would like to make sure that everyone is given fair treatment," he noted.