Yasay resignation effective March 25

Is it the pressure of the job or pressure from above?

Embattled Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. says there is no political pressure in his decision to resign effective March 25.

Yasay announced yesterday that he had tendered his resignation to President Estrada, just days after he said he would quit only after Congress passes the Revised Securities Act of 1999 (RSA) which will restructure the corporate watchdog and introduce reforms in the capital market.

Why March 25? Because it marks his seventh year in the SEC, Yasay said.

His resignation came a week after it was reported that he met with the President at Malacañang. STAR publisher Max V. Soliven wrote Feb. 1 about the "top-secret but surprisingly cordial" meeting last Jan. 30, wherein the Chief Executive reportedly conveyed a wish for Yasay to resign even before the Securities Act is passed.

Yasay, however, insisted yesterday that "the decision for me to resign is not part of any political pressure."

"I have unwittingly become an obstacle to the passage of the bill," Yasay said, referring to some members of the opposition who might want to block the passage of RSA 1999 to keep him in his post.

He said the Philippine Stock Exchange will submit this Thursday the results of its investigation on the alleged insider trading and stock manipulation involving Best World (BW) Resources Corp.

"I'll make sure the results are immediately validated," Yasay vowed.

If the results lack credibility, he added, "a formal investigation will be made by the SEC" so that those liable will be prosecuted.

Yasay said earlier that he is willing to yield his post just as soon as Congress signs the RSA into law. He said resigning at the height of the controversy on the BW Resources Corp. investigation will only send mixed signals to foreign investors, giving the impression that supposedly independent bodies like the SEC are subjected to political pressure.

"As sure as the rising of the sun tomorrow, I am sure of resigning. The only thing that will change it is if Congress passes the bill by February. Then I will be resigning earlier," Yasay said, adding he is confident that Congress will pass it this month.

This time, Yasay said, nobody will say that he has been pressured into resigning.

"It will be voluntary," Yasay said, adding it will be the right time because by then, the controversies surrounding his stepping down would have died down. "If it weren't for these issues, if it weren't for talks about the President wanting me to step down since his day one in office, I would have resigned way, way back."

Yasay said his priority at this point is to get the RSA passed into law.

"I really want the bill to be passed and if my resignation is dependent on that, I will do everything including resigning earlier to make sure the bill is passed," he said.

If Yasay does make good his promise to step down this time, he would have served the SEC for seven years. Yasay was appointed as SEC Commissioner in 1993 and was appointed as acting SEC chairman in 1995, he was appointed by former President Fidel Ramos as the new SEC chairman with a term lasting up to 2004.

Yasay was criticized by the President for refusing to step down even after the former was earlier issued a gag order, preventing Yasay from making comments which the President felt was doing more damage and eroding the credibility of the administration with regard to its reactions on the BW controversy.

The President, on the other hand, came under fire for making several phone calls to the SEC chief, which was seen by critics as acts that compromised the quasi-judicial body's independence. The President admitted making the phone calls to Yasay but denied exerting any pressure on the SEC chief.

Yasay admitted in a recent Senate hearing on BW that he was told by Estrada to clear Tan of charges of insider trading and stock manipulation. Mr. Estrada has maintained that his friend Dante Tan of BW Resources was more of a victim in the case.