Another officer of the closed Rural Bank of Buguias in Benguet has been charged and convicted for releasing irregular loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Saturday.

Gavino John B. Bayan III was found guilty by the Regional Trial Court of La Trinidad in Benguet of releasing irregular and questionable loans to the rural bank’s directors, officers, stockholders, and their related interests, the BSP said.

Guilty for the same act

According to the BSP, it discovered the crime after the court also ruled several officers of the rural bank in October 2023 guilty for committing the same act.

These officers were bank managers Bryan Depalog and Lorna Lidua, and teller Virginia Palbusa. The first two were ordered to pay fines worth P100,000 and P300,000 respectively, while the last must pay P150,000.

Promoting compliance

“The BSP continues to promote compliance with existing laws through good governance among its supervised institutions to ensure soundness of the financial system and to protect the transacting public,” the central bank said.

The Rural Bank of Buguias in Benguet was ordered by the BSP to stop its operations on 22 October 2015. It had over 2,000 deposit accounts.

According to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, it had already paid out in 2017 the rural bank’s depositors a total of P295.4 million or 98.7 percent of all the bank’s insured deposits.