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MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should fire the people in government who had been remiss in their jobs to arrest the problems in the pre-need industry, according to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
Enrile specifically trained his gun at Securities and Exchange Commission chairperson Fe Barin, who has been under fire during Monday?s hearing at the Senate for allegedly not doing her job.
?You know, it is sad for me to say this but I think it?s about time the President and the government start firing some people in order to wake them up, to do their job. Hindi na puwede yung lackadaisical ang ginagawa nilang sistema [We can no longer allow their lackadaisical system].
?Nakita na nilang may problema [They already saw that there was a problem], my God, why they did not anticipate the problem? Sasabihin nila [They are saying that] we have to balance between regulation and capital formation? We encourage capital formation provided the people operate within the law, not to injure their beneficiaries, given yun [that is given]. But the more they see that people are going to be injured, government must act to arrest the problem and these people did not do anything,? he said.
Enrile said that if Barin could not handle her job, then she should just resign.
?I hope that I?m not misunderstood. You know the way these people are acting; it?s time some heads must roll. That?s given. The bureaucracy is too big for one person to handle and you have to chop the heads of some people in order to wake them up,? said the Senate leader.
?If [Barin] can?t handle her job then she should resign,? he stressed.
Enrile also lashed at deputy governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, who has been accused of alleged ?harassment? by Celso de los Angeles, owner of the Legacy group.
Instead of fending off the allegation, Enrile said Espenilla should answer if it was true that he owned a rural bank, which might constitute a conflict of interest if this were true.
?I saw Espenilla on television last night. Imagine he was arguing that while they are violating the law, the question is do you really own a rural bank? Is the violation of these people [Legacy group] negating the fact that you own a rural bank?? he said.
?He [Espenilla] should answer that question. He should deny that ownership of that rural bank if indeed he?s not in conflict of interest as a bureaucrat supervising the banking system and at the same time owning the bank,? said Enrile.
?My God, the trouble is nilalabo nila yung mga issue pag nasasangkot na sila [they are blurring the issue when they know that they have been a part of it]. Sasabihin nila o e nagbaba-violate sila ng banking law [They will say, so they are violating the banking law]. So what? That?s another thing but the question is Mr. Espenilla, did you really own the rural bank?? Enrile further asked.
At the hearing Monday, De los Angeles claimed that he had been subjected to harassment by the brother of former BSP deputy governor Alberto Reyes, and later on by Espenilla.
