NEWSFLASH

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OWNERS BLAMED FOR MONTE DE PIEDAD COLLAPSE

Manila, Oct. 22, 1997 - The Senate Committee on banks blames Vic Tan, former majority owner and chairman of the Monte de Piedad and Savings Bank, and the owners of Strategic Lending Investors (SLI) for the near collapse of Monte early this year.

In a 14-page report, the committee recommended that Tan, Fiorello Panopio and his wife Mrs. Vicky Lee Panopio should be prosecuted. But the senate body absolved Cardinal Jaime Sin, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM), which used to control 70 percent of the bank. RCAM sold its holdings to Tan, who paid through a huge loan from the bank he was buying.

The Monte de Piedad was bled by P1.8 billion in loans to tricycle drivers through Tan's SLI. The loans were never repaid, and the bank was forced to declare a bank holiday last April. It later reopened under the majority control of the Keppel Group of Singapore.

There were about 80 affidavits and letters of borrowers who denied having received the loans which records of the SLI showed were released. The SLI is controlled by Fiorello and Vicky Panopio.

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