Following revelations in the ‘ghost employees scandal’ that has besmirched the erstwhile upstanding reputation of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), two central bank supervisors, accused of falsifying attendance records for four staffers, were ordered dismissed and their retirement benefits forfeited with imposed lifetime bans from public service.
In a statement, the BSP likewise announced that the supervisors also lost their civil service eligibility and are now permanently disqualified from holding public office and barred from taking future civil service exams.
The BSP disclosed that the decision of the Monetary Board (MB), the highest policymaking body of the central bank, followed comprehensive deliberation of the issue, taking into account the investigative report submitted by the BSP’s legal department.
“The imposition of maximum administrative penalties on the supervisors is the BSP’s latest step in addressing an issue it always took seriously, valuing the integrity the institution is known for,” the central bank pointed out.
“The BSP has handled the issue as swiftly as possible while observing the standards of due process to ensure that the decision upholds justice and accountability,” it added.
The controversy over ‘ghost’ employees in the BSP was rooted on several reports linking former MB members Bruce Tolentino and Anita Linda Aquino—both appointees of former President Rodrigo ‘Rody’ Duterte—to the scandal.
Two years ago in November, the BSP stated that its Office of the General Counsel opened an inquiry after receiving what it described as “credible” information that several staff members assigned to two board members had not been reporting for work for long stretches but continued to collect their full salaries.
Investigators later identified four employees and their two immediate supervisors and this was followed by the filing of administrative charges against them and eventually their dismissal that took effect in July 2024.
The scandal set off a shake-up at the MB and both Aquino and Tolentino resigned and were succeeded by veteran bankers Jose Querubin and Walter Wasser, who are both under the jurisdiction of Malacañan.
To avoid a repeat of the controversy, the BSP has begun implementing reforms to prevent similar abuses, including tighter supervision through enhanced training for managers on discipline and ethics enforcement. Onboarding for new employees has also been expanded to highlight the incident as a case study.
In addition, the central bank also reorganized its Ethics and Decorum Committee, now led by a deputy governor instead of a director, and rolled out a new HR system that digitizes timesheets and supervisor approvals to improve accountability.