Venancio Concepción y Ochoa (May 18, 1861 – December 13, 1950) was a Filipino general under the leadership of President

Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first List of presidents of the Philippines, president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first pre ...

. He fought battles in Iloilo. He represented Iloilo in Malolos Congress. He was appointed as Chief of General Staff of the Republican Army and he saw action Central Luzon. However, President Aguinaldo, just hours after

Antonio Luna Antonio Narciso Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (; October 29, 1866 – June 5, 1899) was a Filipinos, Filipino army general and a pharmacist who fought in the Philippine–American War before his assassination on June 5, 1899, at the age ...

's death on June 5, 1899, immobilized the remaining of Luna's officers and men from the field, including General Concepción, whose headquarters in Angeles, Pampanga Aguinaldo launched an inspection of firearms the same day Luna was murdered.

As a bank president

During the American period, in 1918, he was appointed as the first Filipino president of the

Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, ; ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Hokkien ) is a major Filipino bank based in Pasay in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, during the Insular Government, America ...

, the first universal bank in the Philippines, by the American Governor-General of the Philippines

Francis Burton Harrison Francis Burton Harrison (December 18, 1873 – November 21, 1957) was an American-Filipino Politics of the United States, statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives and was appointed Governor-General of the Philippines ...

. He succeeded

Henry Parker Willis Henry Parker Willis (August 14, 1874 – July 18, 1937) was an American financial expert and economist. Biography He was born at Weymouth, Massachusetts, the son of the Universalist minister and suffragist Olympia Brown. He graduated from th ...

, who was then appointed director of research of the

Federal Reserve Board of Governors The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mo ...

. Under Concepcion, the bank made loans to real estate speculators and businesses in the sugar, hemp, and coconut oil industries, often based on connections rather than sound financial assessments. This led to concerns about the bank's lending practices. When Archibald Harrison, an American director of the bank, investigated these concerns and discovered irregularities, Concepcion intervened by influencing the

Philippine Legislature The Philippine Legislature was the legislature of the Philippines from 1907 to 1935, during the American colonial period, and predecessor of the current Congress of the Philippines. It was bicameral and the legislative branch of the Insular ...

to cut off funding for the investigation, ultimately leading to Harrison's resignation. However, in 1920, he was tried and convicted of fraud., page 444. In July 1921, he was again arrested for corruption by American authorities. The Wood-Forbes report in 1921 went into detail about his past crimes and his incompetence as bank president. Due to the Wood-Forbes report, his reputation further decline. Shortly after his arrest, Senator

Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...

, in a conversation with Army Chief of Staff Frank R. McCoy, that the Philippine National Bank's disaster was "brought about by Osmeña's belief that Concepcion could manage the bank." House Speaker

Sergio Osmeña Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; zh, c=吳文釗, poj=Gô͘ Bûn-chiau; September 9, 1878 – October 19, 1961) was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the List of presidents of the Philippines, fourth president of the Ph ...

supported Concepcion's candidacy as bank president. Quezon then emphasized that Osmeña was also responsible for the PNB.

References

External link

"La tragedia" del Banco Nacional Filipino / por Venancio Concepcion.
available from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

1861 births 1950 deaths Filipino generals Filipino bankers Ilocano people Members of the Philippine Legislature Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Cagayan Nacionalista Party politicians People from Cagayan Military personnel from Manila People from Pangasinan Members of the Malolos Congress {{Philippines-mil-bio-stub