Paz's co-respondents: Drop case
TWO former officials of the defunct Rural Bank of Subangdaku Inc. (RBSI) asked the Regional Trial Court to dismiss the criminal charges against them for allegedly conspiring with other bank officials to create fictitious loans amounting to P2.6 billion.
Respondents- turned- petitioners Gloria Gaisano and Sonia Go filed a petition for certiorari with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the State and Judge Pamela Baring-Uy of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 6.
The petitioners, through lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan, said that the criminal cases for violation of Republic Act (RA) 8791 or the General Banking Law of 2000 in relation to Section 36 of RA 7653 or the New Central Bank Act ought to be dropped for "lack of probable cause."
Gloria and Go, along with Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and Peter Gaisano were indicted for allegedly creating fictitious loans when they were working in the RBSI. Radaza was then the president.
The case stemmed from the criminal complaint filed by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) against the two Gaisanos, Go and Radaza.
Receivership
The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas placed the rural bank under PDIC receivership in January 2009.
Government prosecutors also filed charges against then loans manager Julius Eullaran.
Also charged were Divina Llamoso, Marmelina Cuevas, Glenn Patrimonio, Aileen del Fierro, Rhuel Ayong and Jufriel Argawanon.
In a complaint filed before the Department of Justice, the PDIC accused Radaza and Eullaran of conducting business “in an unsafe and unsound manner.”
PDIC alleged that Radaza, then president and member of the bank's credit committee, conspired with former bankwide loans manager Eullaran to create 6,051 fictitious loans from 2004 to 2008.
The loans reportedly composed 97 percent of all loans released by the RSBI head office during that period.
The PDIC claimed that Radaza and Eullaran were behind the creation of official receipts and made it appear that payments were made to the bank even when there were none.
The supposed payments were allegedly used to provide the source of fictitious loan proceeds.
Forensic
According to the forensic investigation, 5,470 of the 6,051 fictitious loans did not have the required credit information. It further revealed that 581 of the loans did not have supporting documents.
Demand letters sent to the named borrowers were returned because of unknown addresses or because they allegedly did not exist.
Judge Teresita Galanida, meanwhile, dismissed the complaint against Francisco Gaisano following his death in October 2013.
In December 2014, Judge Baring-Uy dismissed the respondents' motion to quash the case information.
She said there is probable cause to charge the respondents of the charged offense.
Information
In the petition for certiorari, defense lawyer Alentajan argued that the case information does not constitute any offense in so far as Gloria Gaisano and Sonia Go are concerned.
Alentajan also said that the case was filed over a decade late considering that the alleged of- fenses were committed between 2000 and 2004 but the case in- formation was only filed in court last Aug. 15.