MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED 3:28 p.m.) — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said that its Monetary Board (MB) has not affected its operations amid reported "ghost employees," which allegedly involved two members of MB.
In a press release on Tuesday, the BSP said that the seven-member MB can still operate with a “four-member quorum”.
“The irregularities appear unprecedented in an organization that upholds integrity and professionalism at all levels,” the BSP said.
“The BSP remains committed to upholding that,” it added.
"The Monetary Board has functioned as normal...The 7-member board can continue to perform most of its duties provided there is a 4-member quorum and the rest of its duties such as granting emergency loans, with 5 members," it also said.
The statement was issued in response to speculations that the MB would have vacancies that may occur which could affect its operations.
A report of The STAR published on Monday stated that there are four “ghost employees” in BSP, according to its source. Three "ghost staff" work for one member of the MB while one works for the other.
According to the BSP, it identified the four employees and the two “immediate supervisors” in January after the probe conducted by its Office of the General Counsel.
The central bank said that from late February to March, four of the employees and one “direct supervisor” mentioned in the Office of the General Counsel’s report tendered their resignation.
However, before resigning from their post, the BSP said that administrative disciplinary cases were filed against them.
BSP did not reveal the names of the two MB members involved.
“We are constrained from commenting further on the Monetary Board members because they are presidential appointees,” the central bank’s statement read.
The MB is chaired by BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr.
The other members of the all-powerful board are the following:
- Anita Linda Aquino
- Romeo Bernardo
- Rosalia De Leon
- Finance Secretary Ralph Recto
- Former Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno
- V. Bruce Tolentino
The MB is responsible for formulating and implementing monetary policy and supervising the country’s financial system.
Meanwhile, to curb inflation, the MB raised its policy rates by 450 basis points from May 2022 to October 2023, resulting in a benchmark interest rate of 6.50 percent, the highest in 17 years.
On May 16, the board retained the country’s target reverse repurchase rate at 6.5%.