Former Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. posted bail on Friday, August 23 after his arrest for several alleged violations in relation to the now-defunct Banco Filipino. 

Yasay, along with five other officials, were arrested on Thursday after criminal charges were filed in a Manila court for allegedly violating banking laws. 

The former secretary paid P60,000 for each of his four cases, totaling to P240,000.  

The former secretary is accused of violating Republic Acts 8791 and 7653 or the General Banking Law and the New Central Bank Act, for his involvement in an anomalous loan from Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgages Bank.

Yasay, however, argued that the incident occurred between 2003 and 2006, while he joined the bank three years later.

“To all my friends, allow me to inform you that I am now being arrested from my house by police officers of Manila on the basis of a warrant of arrest issued by the RTC of Manila Branch 10 for criminal charges that were alleged[ly] committed by officials of Banco Filipino from 2003 to 2006, clearly appearing on the face of the Information filed by the prosecutor, when in truth and in fact I joined the Bank only in 2009,” Yasay posted on Facebook along a mug shot photo of himself.

He previously said in the Facebook post that he would not post bail as he would “question this abuse of process and travesty of justice.”

During the term of then-President Fidel Ramos, Yasay was the chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

He served as the first foreign affairs secretary under the Duterte administration on June 30, 2016. However, the Commission on Appointments denied his ad interim appointment in 2017 due to questions about his citizenship.

Yasay was previously a United States citizen, but he claimed that his citizenship was voided after he left his residency.