Ongpin seeks disbarment of bank ‘spokesperson’

Businessman Roberto Ongpin

Businessman Roberto Ongpin on Monday said he would file a disbarment case against a private lawyer whom he accused of acting as the spokesperson of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) without the proper authority and issuing a “barefaced false statement.”

“After a thorough study of the case, my lawyers advised me that we have an airtight open-and-shut case against attorney [Zenaida] Ongkiko-Acorda,” the former trade minister said in a statement.

In her own statement sent to the Inquirer on Monday, Ongkiko-Acorda said the DBP board had authorized her to act as the bank’s spokesperson and counsel.

Ongpin has been accused by the present DBP board of colluding with former bank officials to obtain what they claimed was a P660-million behest loan to purchase shares of Philex Mining Corp. owned by the bank.

Ongpin has denied the accusation, pointing out that the transaction was profitable for the bank and the loan was fully paid early.

“Attorney Ongkiko-Acorda abrogated unto herself the title of DBP spokesperson,” Ongpin said. “In a press conference called at her office on Aug. 10, wherein not a single DBP official attended, [she] handed out a five-page statement to the press in which she claimed that she was the DBP spokesperson.”

The businessman added that the statement was “replete with all kinds of malicious statements” regarding the DBP loan.

“DBP made P1.3 billion in this transaction, probably one of the best transactions undertaken by DBP in its entire history,” Ongpin said.

In a subsequent paid ad in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, DBP officials said that Ongkiko-Acorda was never retained by DBP as its counsel nor was she ever designated DBP spokesperson.

“These officials were required by the Inquirer to execute an affidavit before they could publish their statement—Edgardo F. Garcia, Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio, Benilda A. Tejada and Jesus S. Guevara II,” the businessman said. “Clearly, Attorney Ongkiko-Acorda purported to represent the DBP when she had no authority to do so.”

In her statement, Ongkiko-Acorda suggested that instead of shooting the messenger, Ongpin should deal directly with the message.

She added: “And the message, as well as the real issue, is simply this, ‘How can an undercapitalized company like Delta Ventures with a paid-up capital of P625,000, losses of P98 million and retained earnings of P2.3 million obtain a P150-million loan and a P510-million loan from a government bank like DBP with extraordinary speed?”