PRRD urged to ‘promptly’ name next BSP chief

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the 9th anniversary of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and the 25th anniversary of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City on February 19, 2019. RENE LUMAWAG/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Philippines’ economic journalists have called on President Rodrigo R. Duterte to “promptly” name the successor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., who died of cancer Saturday, to address any market uncertainty.

“Even as we mourn, we urge President Rodrigo Duterte to ease market uncertainties by promptly filling the void with someone just as suitable and committed to the BSP’s mandate of price and financial stability — one who can hit the ground running and ensure policy continuity,” the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) said in a statement on Sunday.

EJAP dubbed Espenilla, 60, as “an exemplary public servant who heeded the call of duty even when he was grappling with his own health issues”.

“Governor Espenilla’s nearly four-decade service to the country was marked by dogged banking supervision while pioneering the use of digital means to achieve financial inclusion,” it added.

The BSP chief was diagnosed with tongue cancer in November 2017.

He took time off from his work several times since then to seek medical treatment, including the one overseas last January.

He headed the BSP starting July 3, 2017 after the end of the two six-year terms of BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.

Prior to this, he was Deputy Governor responsible for the central bank’s Supervision and Examination Sector, which oversees banks and non-bank institutions.

BSP’s policy-making Monetary Board, in a special meeting Saturday, “designated Deputy Governor Almasara Cyd Tuano-Amador as BSP Officer-in-Charge effective immediately until such time that Duterte shall have designated an OIC or appointed a successor”.

Espenilla graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in business economics from the University of the Philippines.

He also had a master of science degree in policy science from the Graduate Institute of Policy Science in Tokyo, Japan.

He is survived by his wife, Maria Teresita Festin Espenilla; daughter, Jacqueline Joyce and son-in-law, Ben Baltazar; sons Nikko Nestor and Leonardo Nestor; and, grandchild, Zev Eron.

Relatively, Voyager President and Chief Executive Officer Orlando B.

Vea said Espenilla’s death “is a sad day for the country and the financial services industry”.

He described Espenilla as a “humble public servant, progressive central banker, and relentless champion of financial inclusion”.

“His legacy lives on in every effort that we all do to serve the unbanked, uncarded and underserved Filipinos with digital financial services,” he added.