Monetary Board member quits over ‘ghost’ scandal

MANILA, Philippines — A member of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has resigned amid the controversy over ghost employees involving officials of the MB, the BSP’s policy-making body.

V. Bruce Tolentino, a former deputy director-general of the International Rice Research Institute, submitted his resignation letter to President Marcos last week, sources told The STAR.

Tolentino, who was appointed MB member in June 2018 and reappointed in July 2020, was said to have requested that his resignation take effect on June 30. Tolentino’s term was supposed to expire in July 2026.

Another source said Tolentino’s staff had requested boxes from the Office of the Secretary, Monetary Board (OSMB) where he could put his belongings.

Malacañang has not yet made any announcement on the matter. Tolentino has not responded to requests for comment.

Tolentino submitted his resignation letter amid rumors of his involvement in the BSP’s ghost employees scandal.

At a forum hosted by the Tuesday Club yesterday, BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. said the Office of the President has jurisdiction over MB members.

“There is a process that’s going on, separate from our process. The Office of the President is dealing with that,” Remolona said.

“I think they’re acting as fast as they can. They know it’s important,” he said. “I can say Malacañang will act on this.”

He said the central bank needs a good reputation and enough credibility to make monetary policy work and ensure the stability of the financial system.

“Where things stand, I think we acted as fast as we could in the bounds of due process, in the bounds of confidentiality,” Remolona said. “But the investigation process should go through very soon. We’re already in the disciplinary process. We want to recover the salaries.”

He added that the BSP is putting measures in place to make sure similar incidents won’t happen again.

Tolentino first joined the Monetary Board on June 18, 2018, serving the unexpired term of the late Valentin Araneta.  

Prior to his initial BSP appointment in 2018, Tolentino worked as chief economist and country representative at The Asia Foundation, senior technical adviser at the Agriculture and Natural Resources of the Catholic Relief Services and senior economic policy adviser at the Asian Development Bank.

From 1986 to 1993, he worked as undersecretary for planning, policy and international trade of the Department of Agriculture during the term of former president Corazon Aquino.

Tolentino was also the first executive director of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council from 1987 to 1990.

This was not the first case where a member of the MB resigned from his or her position during their term. In February 2014, former press secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye quit the Board due to the health condition of his wife.