The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is badly hit after hundreds to thousands of its depositors who supported Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte rushed to close their accounts on Friday.
Many depositors expressed their anger towards the oldest Philippine bank after Sen. Trillanes presented some documents allegedly from Duterte’s hidden account.
CPA and lawyer and banking expert Artemio Juson of Juson-Vasquez-Valdez (JVV) Law Associates, told a local Cebu City radio on Friday that the bank can sue Trillanes if his accusations towards Duterte are proven false.
The lawyer also urged Duterte supporters not to judge BPI yet because it is not sure if the documents presented by Trillanes are real or fabricated.
If the documents are proven to be fabricated, Juson said Trillanes can face multiple charges over business sabotage and defamation.
“The effect of this issue to the bank is massive and could not be ignored. Since Duterte has already instructed his lawyer to open his bank account on Monday in front of Trillanes, I think he, (Trillanes) will be in serious trouble with the BPI,” Juson said.
“I think Senator Trillanes has bitten the dust. Mayor Duterte is proven to be a master of strategy that’s why he is leading the survey. Nobody thought he would run for president until the very last days of COMELEC’s extension to file for COC”, Juson added.
The lawyer said Trillanes dragged the name of “a respectable banking institution into an unprecedented scandal.”
Duterte has confirmed on Friday that his lawyer will open his BPI account in front of the accuser (Trillanes), but the latter said he will not sign an affidavit because he is protecting is informant. /Letty Paiman/
except from okd2.com