PH POP Casino ｜New Appointment Follows Resignations Over Ghost Employee Controversy
PH POP Casino ｜Manila, Philippines – President Marcos has appointed an experienced banker to the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) following the resignation of two members involved in an unprecedented ghost employee controversy.
In a statement released yesterday, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced the appointment of Walter Wassmer as an advisor and non-executive director of BDO Unibank Inc. The Monetary Board is the highest decision-making body of the central bank.
From 1997 to 2022, Wassmer served as Senior Executive Vice President and Head of the Institutional Banking Group at BDO. Before that, he was the Corporate Client Head at Bancom Finance Corp. from 1980 to 1982.
Wassmer’s appointment comes more than a month after the resignation of two Monetary Board members, V. Bruce Tolentino and Anita Linda Aquino, who were implicated in the ghost employee scandal. Their resignations took effect on June 30.
The new Monetary Board member holds a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from De La Salle University. According to Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel Romualdez, Wassmer was a classmate of Marcos at De La Salle Greenhills.
President Marcos has not yet announced the final member of the Monetary Board. The new appointees will complete the terms of Tolentino and Aquino, which were originally set to expire in July 2026.
Other current members of the Monetary Board, besides BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr., include Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Benjamin Diokno, Rosalia de Leon, and Romeo Bernardo, all appointed by Marcos.
The Star reached out to PCO Secretary Cheloy Garafil for comments on the administration’s plans regarding BSP officials linked to the scandal but has yet to receive a response.
Last May, BSP labeled the misconduct as “unprecedented” and reiterated its commitment to integrity and professionalism.
According to the BSP, its Office of the General Counsel launched an investigation in October last year after receiving “credible” information that several staff members in the offices of two Monetary Board members had not been reporting to work for an extended period but were still receiving salaries.
The office received a preliminary report on the investigation in December and instructed the investigating team to conduct a more thorough probe. The final report, submitted the following month, identified four employees and their two immediate supervisors involved.
The BSP stated that between late February and early March, the four employees and one immediate supervisor named in the report resigned. It added that administrative disciplinary cases were filed before their resignations took effect in March.
The BSP assured that despite the resignations, the central bank would continue to operate normally.
In a previous statement, the BSP mentioned, “As long as the quorum of four is met, the seven-member Monetary Board can continue to perform most of its duties, while others, such as granting emergency loans, require five members.”
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