The ANC (ABS-CBN) cameraman assigned to Karen Davila yesterday morning (the credits don’t show the names of cameramen, please acknowledge him, thanks) in Pampanga zoomed in on the bundle of money that Gov. Ed Panlilio was holding up to the reporters. Brilliant.
The “binding paper” or piece of paper wound around the P500,000.oo bound by two rubber bands, showed the logo, seal, and name of:
BANK OF COMMERCE.
(Bank of Commerce photo with Bank of Commerce logo, right-clicked from their website at bancommerce.com)
I checked the website of Bank of Commerce, at bancommerce.com
The following is the ownership profile:
Beneficiaries Accounts – 27.16%
Cojuangco Group – 17.19%
Bancholders — 15.25%
Professional Bankers – 8.27
Equitable Bank Group — 6.43%
Herrera Group — 24.26%
It has 112 branches and 62 onsite/offsite ATM’s. Now, if you were withdrawing a lot of cash and bringing them to Malacañang, you wouldn’t want to go to the out-of-town branches.
The following are the branches in the Manila area:
1.UN Avenue;
2. Tutuban;
3. T. Alonzo;
4. Aduana;
5. Taft-P.Faura;
6. Taft Ave.
7. Sta. Ana;
8. Central market;
9. Soler; 10. Port Area;
11. Juan Luna;
12. Ermita;
13. Elcano;
14. Dasmariñas-Binondo.
According to their website, their brief history is as follows (I just copied and pasted selections):
Quote “1991 – The Bank’s shareholder base include industry leaders in diverse fields. The PLDT/PILTEL Group, the Professional Bankers’ Group, the College Assurance Plan Group, and the Equitable Banking Corporation, give the Bank renewed energy and reach, giving it an edge of confidence in a competitive banking industry. In November of that year, the Securities and Exchange Commission, with the sanction of the Central Bank of the Philippines, approved the change in the corporate name to Bank of Commerce.
Quote “1993 – The present owners completed the buy-out of the majority interest of the First National Bank of Boston.
Quote “2000 – On Sept. 1, 2000, the Bank acquired Panasia Bank, a relatively – new bank owned by the Tan Yu family. From 42 branches all over the country, Bank of Commerce now reaches 55.
Quote “2001 – On November 2001, Bank of Commerce completed its purchase of selected assets and assumption of selected liabilities of Traders Royal Bank (TRB) paving the way for the takeover of all the branches of TRB, thereby expanding its branch network to 112.
Quote “2004 – The Monetary Board, PDIC and the SEC, have given the go-signal for Systems Technology Institute (STI) to acquire a stake in Bank of Commerce. STI gained entry into the Bank’s Board at the annual stockholders’ meeting in April highlighted by the election of directors representing STI.” Unquote.
(By the way, on the bundle of money given to Gov. Jonjon Mendoza, there’s a stamped date, it says “July 2, 2007”, but I didn’t see the name of the bank).
I’m not a full-time blogger or a full-time investigator; I just blog after office hours or after my work is done, and only for two hours. But I hope somebody follows this through.
The news items and interviews on this story are long on opinion and short on information. I really hope somebody follows this through.
I know. There’s a Secrecy of Bank Deposits Act. There are exceptions to that: In case of an impeachment, in case of a court order in a bribery case or dereliction of duty of public officials, or where the money is subject of litigation.
Here’s the provision:
“Republic Act 1405. xxx Section 2. All deposits of whatever nature with banks or banking institutions in the Philippines including investments in bonds issued by the Government of the Philippines, its political subdivisions and its instrumentalities, are hereby considered as of an absolutely confidential nature and may not be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or office, except upon written permission of the depositor, or in cases of impeachment, or upon order of a competent court in cases of bribery or dereliction of duty of public officials, or in cases where the money deposited or invested is the subject matter of the litigation.”
If we were in an impeachment trial, we could do more.
If you were an enterprising journalist, you could do a lot, lot better with these tips (and everybody saw these, it’s on TV.)
