Another Monetary Board member quits

MANILA, Philippines — Another member of the Monetary Board (MB), the highest policy-making arm of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, has resigned amid the controversy over ghost employees in the BSP.

Former banker Anita Linda Aquino submitted recently her resignation letter to President Marcos, a ranking BSP official confirmed to The STAR. Malacañang has yet to make an announcement on the development.

Aquino was appointed as MB member in July 2020 together with V. Bruce Tolentino, who also submitted his resignation letter late last week, days after the ghost employee scandal broke out.

Their terms were supposed to end in July 2026.

However, Aquino and Tolentino were still reporting to the BSP and even participated in the MB meeting last Thursday. Aquino did not respond to requests for comment.

Aquino’s resignation came amid rumors that she was keeping ghost employees under her management.

Earlier in January, the BSP identified four ghost employees and their two immediate supervisors working for two MB members. The four ghost staff received benefits and hefty salaries without reporting for work.

The BSP is currently taking administrative action against these individuals and is seeking to recover the salaries and perks they have received.

From late February to early March, four of the employees and one direct supervisor tendered their resignation from the central bank. MB members are presidential appointees and are answerable to the President.

The BSP earlier said the MB would function normally despite the ongoing investigation as long as there are at least four members to perform the functions of the MB.

Aquino was the first female banker in Philippine central bank history to become a member of the Monetary Board.

She served as chief of staff of then finance secretary Carlos Dominguez in the Department of Finance. She was also a member of the board of directors of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and a board adviser of the state-run United Coconut Planters Bank.

During her tenure in the private sector, Aquino held key positions at Standard Chartered Bank Manila, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Citicorp Investment Bank in Singapore and Citibank NA Manila.