Marcos appoints BDO director to Monetary Board

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has named a seasoned banker to the Monetary Board of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which recently saw two of its members quit after they were linked to an unprecedented ghost employee controversy.

The appointment of Walter Wassmer, who served as a consultant and non-executive director of the BDO Unibank Inc., was announced by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) in a statement yesterday. The board is the highest policy-making arm of the central bank.

Wassmer is a former senior executive vice president and institutional banking group head of BDO from 1997 to 2022. He also worked as senior vice president of the Far East Bank and Trust Co. from 1986 to 1997, assistant vice president of the Union Bank of the Philippines from 1983 to 1986; and corporate account officer of the Bancom Finance Corp. from 1980 to 1982. The newly appointed MB member also served as corporate account officer of the IFC Leasing and Acceptance Corp. from 1979 to 1980.

Wassmer’s appointment came more than a month after two members of the Monetary Board tied to the ghost employee controversy namely V. Bruce Tolentino and Anita Linda Aquino, resigned from their posts. Their resignation took effect on June 30.

The new MB member holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from De La Salle University.

According to Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, Wassmer was a classmate of Marcos in De La Salle Greenhills.

President Marcos has yet to announce the final member of the MB. The new appointees will complete the terms of both Tolentino and Aquino, which were supposed to expire in July 2026.

Aside from BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr., other MB members are Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Benjamin Diokno, Rosalia de Leon and Romeo Bernardo, all Marcos appointees.

The STAR asked PCO Secretary Cheloy Garafil about Malacañang’s plans with regard to the BSP officials linked to the scandal but has yet to receive a response.

Last May, the BSP described the irregularity as “unprecedented” and reiterated its commitment to integrity and professionalism.

According to the central bank,  the Office of the General Counsel triggered an investigation in October last year after receiving “credible” information that several staffers in the offices of two MB members had not been reporting for work for extended periods of time but were receiving salaries.

The office received an initial report of the probe in December and directed the investigating team to proceed with an in-depth investigation. The following month, the investigating team submitted the final investigation report, where four employees and their two immediate supervisors were identified.

From late February to early March, four of the employees and one direct supervisor implicated in the report resigned, according to the BSP. Administrative disciplinary cases were filed in March before the effectivity of their separation, it added.

The BSP gave an assurance that the MB would function as normal despite the resignation of two of its members.

“The seven-member board can continue to perform most of its duties provided there is a four-member quorum and the rest of its duties such as granting emergency loans, with five members,” the central bank said in a previous statement.