Court defers ruling on TRO vs BSP receivership of Banco Filipino

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals has deferred the issuance of a temporary restraining order on the directive of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to place Banco Filipino under receivership due to capital deficiency.

Instead, the court ordered the BSP to submit a comment within a non-extendible five days from receipt of its resolution.

“Without necessarily giving due court, the court orders the respondent [BSP] to submit a comment [not a motion to dismiss] within a non-extendible period of five days from notice,” the appeals court 14th division through Associate Justice Agnes Reyes-Carpion stated in its resolution dated March 28 but was released only this Tuesday.

“Likewise address therein the propriety of the issuance of a temporary restraining order and with the issuance of a preliminary injunction. So ordered,” the appeals court added.

Associate Justices Fernanda Lampas-Peralta and Priscilla Baltazar-Padilla concurred in the resolution.

Banco Filipino last week filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals asking that the court declare as illegal the BSP order.

Lawyer Perfecto Yasay, BF Vice Chairman and former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said they were questioning the legality of the BSP order since a preliminary mandatory preventive injunction has been issued by the Makati City regional trial court Branch 66 ordering the BSP to implement the (BSP and Monetary Board approved) business plan.

The BSP recently put under Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) receivership the Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank and ordered that assistance be immediately given to its 177,652 depositors.

The BSP explained that the bank has insufficient realizable assets to meet its obligations with its net realizable value at P8.4 billion.

But Yasay maintained that the BF was not insolvent and has assets worth P25 billion.

The Makati RTC in a 2009 decision ordered the BSP and the Monetary Board (MB) to immediately implement BF’s approved Business Plan by releasing, without delay, the P25-billion financial assistance and a package of regulatory relief. The decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals last year.

The Business Plan for the once biggest savings bank in the country with almost four million depositors before its closure in 1985 during the time of the late Central Bank Gov. Jose “Jobo” Fernandez was approved by the MB through Resolution No. 1668 and subsequent amendments after seven years of continued summary denial.

The bank was ordered padlocked and liquidated in 1985.

In 1991, the Supreme Court declared the closure “arbitrary and with grave abuse of discretion.” The decision became final in 1992.

On July 27, 1984 when BF was placed under conservatorship through MB Resolution No. 955, the bank filed its first civil case denominated as CV No. 8108.

On Jan. 25, 1985, the then CB issued MB Resolution No. 75 that ordered the closure of BF and placed it under receivership. The second civil case denominated as CV No. 9675 was filed by BF.

On March 22, 1985, BF was placed under liquidation prompting the padlocked bank to file its third civil case denominated as CV No. 10183. (report from Tetch Torres, Inquirer.net)