By JOSEPH HOLANDES UBALDE
Interaksyon.com
HE might have been extra cautious in disclosing information on the alleged multimillion peso and dollar accounts of Chief Justice Renato Corona during the Senate impeachment trial, but the head of the Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) has decided to be more candid online.
Pascual Garcia III launched on Saturday a personal blog (www,pascualgarcia.ph), which he called an outlet for him and part of his “release process” two weeks after he was discharged by the impeachment court as a witness.
“There’s so much I have gone through and felt that’s bottled up,” he said.
Garcia was thrust into the spotlight when he was subpoenaed by the impeachment court to shed light on Corona’s accounts with PSBank.
But how revealing will Garcia be in personal blog? The bank president said he will be candid about his personal life but mum about facts surrounding the impeachment trial. He is, he stressed, not using the blog to clear his name.
“I’m not hiding anything or feel I have anything to clear. My experiences with so many people were an eye opener so I thought I’d answer their interests as best as I can and give them a human feeling behind the face they saw and the voice they heard,” he said.
During the trial, Garcia was very careful in answering queries from the senator-judges, especially about Corona’s foreign deposits. He also repeatedly resisted disclosing information unless subpoeanaed by the court, which sometimes pushed the judges to pressure him to speak. Finally, the Supreme Court sided with PSBank’s motion for a temporary restraining order on further inquiries into the dollar accounts.
But a veteran in crisis public relations management said Garcia’s blog will open more problems than clarity.
“It’s an adventure beyond his control so he better shut up,” said the PR specialist who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He did well already in the impeachment trial. But now, not even the most brilliant lawyer can help him if he goes to his blog. This is disastrous for him and his bank.”
According to him, Garcia runs the risk of being too revealing in his blog. Garcia should show more caution in this platform because the prosecution has already zoomed in on what he revealed on Corona’s peso accounts as the core of their evidence against the magistrate.
“You are already in the safety zone, why bother? Be thankful that so far there’s no bank run,” the PR specialist said.
