By Joann Villanueva/PNA
MANILA — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr., 60, died Saturday after battling cancer since late 2017.
“It is with deep sadness that the Monetary Board (MB) announced that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor and Chairman of the Monetary Board Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. peacefully passed away on 23 February 2019 surrounded by members of his family,” the central bank said in a statement early Sunday.
The statement, issued after a special meeting Saturday, said the MB has “designated Deputy Governor Almasara Cyd Tuano-Amador as BSP Officer-in-Charge effective immediately until such time that President Rodrigo Duterte shall have designated an OIC or appointed a successor.”
Espenilla was diagnosed with tongue cancer in late 2017.
He went on sick leave several times since then and even sought medical treatment overseas last January.
He took over the BSP helm on July 3, 2017 after the end of the two six-year terms of BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr.
Prior to his appointment as BSP chief, he headed, as Deputy Governor, the central bank’s Supervision and Examination Sector (SES), which oversees banks and non-bank institutions.
As BSP Governor, he is also the chairman of the central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board (MB).
He is also the ex-officio chairman the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and headed the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and the Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC).
He championed for the digitalization of retail payments in the country, which saw the establishment of two automated clearing houses called InstaPay and PESONet, both of which are real-time electronic payment systems.
He also adopted a “Continuity Plus Plus” theme on reforms on monetary and financial policies.
He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in business economics at the University of the Philippines.
He also had a master of science degree in policy science from the Graduate Institute of Policy Science (GRIPS) in Tokyo, Japan.
He was 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.
