Best World not a borrowing client, says Equitable PCI

BW Resources Corp. is not a borrowing client of Equitable PCI Bank contrary to a story published by another newspaper, Ricardo Romulo, vice chairman of the bank, said. Records submitted by former SGV chairperson Gloria Tan-Climaco, now the bank's audit committee head and board member, show that Equitable PCI Bank has no exposure in BW Resources whatsoever, Romulo said in a statement.

Equitable PCI Bank chairman George L. Go has the full faith and confidence of the board of directors, the major shareholders of the bank, and the Go family. Equitable PCI Bank chairman emeritus Peter Go Pailan will not be replacing George Go as bank chairman, as erroneously reported, the statement said.

The statement continued:

"Mr. Go's outstanding performance as chairman and former president of Equitable Bank is recognized by the bank's shareholders. From the time Mr. Go took the helm as president of Equitable Bank in 1988 and as chairman in 1993, total resources and equity have grown from P8 billion in 1988 to the current P229 billion, making Equitable PCI Bank one of the banking industry's Big Three.

"Mr. George Go has our full support. He, together with his professional management team, has been responsible for the impressive performance of Equitable PCI Bank.

"The highly respected Asiamoney magazine in its December-January 2000 issue named Equitable Bank as the Best Bank in the Philippines based on total points awarded from financial criteria for 1998 that measured strength and stability, profitability, liquidity, assets quality, and loan-loss coverage. PCIBank had also been evaluated as a close second, and together the two banks were ranked among the top 15 banks in Asia utilizing the financials provided by Thomson Financial Bankwatch, the world's largest specialist bank-rating agency.