Ex-BSP chief passes away

MANILA, Philippines – Former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov Gabriel “Gabby” Singson passed away early Tuesday at the age of 87, according to the central bank.

Singson died around 2 a.m. The cause of his death remains undisclosed. However, reports said his health has been deteriorating recently.

Singson was the first governor of the BSP after it was reorganized from the old Central Bank of the Philippines in 1993 when former President Fidel Ramos signed the Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act. He served the central bank from July 6, 1993 to July 5, 1999.

The former central bank chief is also remembered for laying the foundations for a stronger peso and stable banking system during the period when the foreign exchange gains from Overseas Filipino Workers and Business Process Outsourcing were not yet steady as it is today. He also led the BSP’s monetary authority during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

Singson, who placed second in the 1952 Philippine Bar Examinations, graduated magna cum laude and valedictorian from the College of Liberal Arts of the Ateneo de Manila University in 1948 and obtained his law degree from the Ateneo Law School in 1952. He also earned his master of laws degree from the University of Michigan Law School as a Dewitt Fellow and Fulbright Scholar in 1960.

Aside from serving as the central bank’s governor, Singson also taught commercial and civil law at the Ateneo Law School from 1956 to 1972.

The BSP is scheduled to hold its necrological rites for Singson at the BSP Assembly Hall in Manila at 1 p.m., on Wednesday, March 30.