The central bank was already under pressure at home. Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of the senate economic affairs committee, said on April 7 that the planned yankee bond issue was a mere scheme for the central bank to "window dress" its balance sheet. Angara, a former senate president, added that the bond would "only benefit the investment bank that will oversee the bond float".
The deal also drew flak from Action for Economic Reforms, a policy group composed of academics and non-government organizations, which said the central bank would end up paying interest of $118.75 million to $125 million a year: "The transaction is grossly disadvantageous to the Philippine government. Furthermore the Bangko Sentral's dollar reserves are at an all-time high, and it does not make sense to accumulate reserves by borrowing more."
The Bankers Association of the Philippines voiced its public support - rather embarrassingly on the day before the issue was postponed. Outgoing association president Rafael Buenaventura observed: "The $1.25 billion offering has been analyzed largely from its potential problems but little has been said of its possible upside gains." Incoming association president Deogracias Vistan, president of Solidbank, added: "There may be implicit advantages to the bond offerings which are not readily appreciated outside of the financial market."