Ego and Greed : Metrobank Incident Exemplifies How The Filipina's Moral Fiber Has Eroded

When the news broke out in the press last week about the Metrobank executive who was arrested and charged for defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) in a scandal that sent the lender’s shares tumbling on Friday, there was a mix of reactions among the public.  Some were alarmed, while others were already desensitized given the string of incidents in the banking sector beginning with the RCBC money laundering scandal last year and the two latest glitches with BPI and BDO.  For those who knew about it before the news hit the press, the coffee shop talk left most of the Titas shaking their heads in despondence.

When I first heard of it, my mind was brought back to 1992 when the spectacular collapse of Barings Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest merchant bank, was brought about by the rogue trader, Nick Leeson, because of his fraudulent, unauthorized speculative trading for which he was sentenced to prison.  During that time, the headline of TIME Magazine stated "EGO and GREED : The inside story of a 28-year old trader who blew a billion dollars, broke a bank and stunned the world".

It is not quite difficult to explain how a 28-year old  single,  male, expat in Singapore, in the days following the popularity of Michael Douglas' performance in the movie, "Wall Street", as Gordon Gekko could get entangled in the collapse of Barings.  Ego and Greed in operation is obvious.

What is a bit disturbing is how Ego and Greed has creeped into the moral fiber of the Filipina.  Liken it to fiendish and frenzied cancer cells which attack what's healthy in one's body, Ego and Greed no longer know any gender.  It also knows no race.

For a while back, we have preserved the Filipinas image as a God-fearing, selfless, caring, and motherly person who would uphold what's right and cascade such values to the next generation.  Sadly, the news about individuals such as Janet Napoles, a businesswoman who is believed to have masterminded the Priority Development Assistance Fund Scam, and the former Jupiter St-Makati branch manager of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) linked to the $81-million Bangladeshi bank heist in 2016 is a big blow to obliterate that image.

In the case of the the 54-year-old Metrobank executive, Marivic Lopez, reported to own the Menage chain of salons, it is somewhat unthinkable how one could not be satisfied with a 250k monthly salary plus merely a year's run until retirement. 

Here in Bacolod (and in Iloilo), the talk over this Sunday's lunch will surely be, "Sin-o ina sya ya nga Lopez?" (Which Lopez branch or clan is she from?).

As of the latest news, Ms. Lopez has kept mum on who else may be involved in defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank).  

Such a sad day when Ego and Greed take over.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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