By Joann Villanueva/PNA
MANILA — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is in good hands despite Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr.’s on-and-off leave of absence to undergo treatment for cancer.
Espenilla returned to work on Tuesday after going on leave from January 4 to 21, his most recent in a series of breaks in the past months, to seek medical care overseas.
He, however, issued an Office Order on Tuesday designating Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier as Officer-in-Charge “and the Governor’s alternate during the meetings of the Monetary Board.”
With volatilities again on the rise due to external developments, a ranking Banco De Oro (BDO) Unibank, Inc. official remains confident about the BSP’s capability to perform its functions despite Espenilla’s current health concerns.
“I do not think it’s an issue,” BDO chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
“The BSP structure is well in place. Hopefully, the governor is well on the road to recovery,” he said.
Ravelas added that a BSP governor taking a leave of absence to seek treatment overseas is not new.
“We have seen this situation before under the late governor Buenaventura,” he said, referring to former BSP governor Rafael Buenaventura, who died on Nov. 30, 2006 after a long bout with cancer.
Buenaventura headed the BSP from 1999 to 2005. He took a month-long leave of absence in March to April 2003 to seek medical treatment in the US for his thyroid problem.
