CONGRESS has summoned central bank Governor Amando Tetangco and the members of the Monetary Board, the Bangko Sentral’s policy-making body, to a hearing next week over the rural banks they closed in December, sources said yesterday.

They said Tetangco’s office received the summons earlier this week, but the Monetary Board did not discuss it during its meeting on Thursday. The letter was addressed to the Monetary Board and not to individual members, they said.

The members of the board are former Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong, former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority head Alfredo Antonio, former Trade Undersecretary Raul Boncan, former Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, Trade Secretary Peter Favila, and former Trade Undersecretary Nelly Villafuerte.

The Monetary Board closed 15 rural banks in December for violations of central bank regulations. Thirteen of those are now under receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. Eileen A. Mencias