DBP lost P4 Billion in Lehman Brothers collapse

From Ernesto Maceda:

A senior DBP governor confirmed to us that the government financial institution lost $80 million or P4 billion in investments in Lehman Brothers.

If only for that, president Rey David and the DBP Board of Governors should resign. But shouldn’t major foreign investments by government financial institutions be subject to approval by the Secretary of Finance?

Up to now, GSIS has not admitted how much it lost in investments in Credit Agricole and ING Barring.

NFA lost P72 billion in its operation while BSP lost over P100 billion in “foreign exchange trading losses.”

All these while GMA and Secretary Gary Teves are considering raising taxes and claiming lack of funds to support government programs.

Meanwhile, coffee shop and stock market lounge talk about how much a top administration personality lost in the Lehman bankruptcy. Estimates range from $300 to $700 million. Three Malacañang cronies and a Cabinet member are said to have lost millions of dollars in the financial meltdown from their stash of illegally acquired wealth.

So what were they saying again about our financial system and economy not being affected by the meltdown in Wall Street?

Or what about that "firewall" we keep hearing about? I think this administration has not even come close to telling the entire truth about the extent of our government losses due to the collapse of many financial institutions in the US.

From Marlen Ronquillo:

Investing in Lehman Brothers? I don’t think it is a priority in the investment portfolio of the DBP. Investing in Lehman Brothers, the collapsed investment bank that got sucked up in the whirlwind of greed-induced turmoil that rocked the financial system of the US (and many parts of the globe), was definitely one of the last things DBP, as per its sworn mandate, would engage in.

The news reports said otherwise.

The news reports tagged DBP as one of the Philippine investors in Lehman Brothers. A $90 million placement was made to Lehman by DBP. The story did not detail under whose leadership the $90 million investment was placed by DBP. What is clear is that the investment had vaporized, along with the money invested in Lehman from prominent and obscure places across the globe.

It was the only state-owned bank said to have invested in Lehman Brothers.

Pagmamayari ng gobierno ang DBP, so we taxpayers are on the hook again for the P4 billion lost to Lehman + the needed bailout.

UPDATE: Philstar columnist and GMA toady Alex Magno is a board member of the DBP. Maybe people should ask him about the Lehman Brothers deal.