Philippine Savings Bank President Pascual "Tito" Garcia

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Savings Bank President Pascual "Tito" Garcia surprised some when he took the stand at the trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, instead of the Katipunan Avenue branch manager most were expecting. He didn't surprise some fellow bankers.

"If he sent the branch manager and he makes a mistake, it's very easy to berate him," the head of another savings bank said in a phone interview. "He probably said he'd do it himself and spare everyone the trouble. It shows the bank considers this important. The president should stand up. I'm not surprised (he did)."

Garcia told the Senate that he took the stand to protect 600,000 depositors and more than 2,000 employees, any of whom might have faced legal action for testifying or refusing to do so.

"I offered myself as an alternative to them because I'm the leader of the bank," he said.

The banker, who declined to be identified, said Garcia is "very seasoned," and started to become well-known in banking circles in the 1990s, when he was the highest-ranking Filipino in the consumer banking side of Citibank-controlled Citytrust in the 1990s, before it was sold to Bank of the Philippine Islands. Garcia went on to head DBS Philippines, a unit of Singapore's DBS, before it too was taken over by BPI in 2001.

He's been president of Metrobank's PSBank since then, and served as president of the Chamber of Thrift Banks in 2009 and 2010.

As head of the association, he looked out for smaller, provincial thrift banks, his fellow banker said.

"One of his things is how to give back, how to help other banks, not just the big ones, the ones in Manila, or the ones that are part of big banks."

The banker said he has called Garcia when dealing with "touchy" issues. "He's very open to share his guidance."

The head of yet another savings bank said: "He's a good guy but being very careful. He is a straight guy and will not play games."