THE Monetary Board will still be able to perform its functions despite a "ghost" employee scandal that could lead to the departure of two members, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

The central bank's seven-member policymaking body has been hit by controversy following reports that two officials had hired employees who were being paid but not doing any work. An investigation has resulted in the resignations of four individuals and disciplinary proceedings are ongoing.

The fate of the two Monetary Board members said to have hired the ghost employees remains subject to talk as their fates will ultimately be decided by Malacañang.

"In response to speculation that vacancies may occur that would affect the board's operations, the seven-member board can continue to perform most of its duties provided there is a four-member quorum and the rest of its duties such as granting emergency loans, with five members," the BSP said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Monetary Board is currently composed of BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr., who serves as its chairman, with Finance Secretary Ralph Recto as the Cabinet representative and Bruce Tolentino, Anita Linda Aquino, Rosalia de Leon, Romeo Bernardo and Benjamin Diokno as private sector members.

Tolentino and Aquino have been identified as the members involved and have so far declined to issue statements. Both were appointed during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte, during which Diokno was the BSP chief.

Diokno, who left the central bank to become finance secretary in 2022 and was replaced by Recto in January, denied that the Monetary Board had become "politicized" during his stint at the BSP.

"During my watch as BSP governor from March 4, 2019 to June 30, 2022, President Duterte never called me to influence monetary policy. It was never politicized," he said.

The BSP said it was constrained from further commenting on Monetary Board members as they were presidential appointees.

It provided further details about the scandal, however, saying that the Office of the General Counsel started an investigation last October after receiving information that several employees had "not been reporting for work for extended periods of time but were nonetheless receiving their salaries."

A preliminary report was submitted in December and a final report that identified four employees and two immediate supervisors was submitted.

The four employees and one of the supervisors resigned in March.

"As BSP has stated since the first media reports on the issue on May 10, because the administrative proceedings are ongoing, further information about them may be confidential," the central bank said.

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