However, his shrewd handling of both his detractors and supporters allowed him to accomplish key policy reforms at a time when political upheavals often derailed the country's economic progress.
Rafael Carlos "Paeng" Baltazar Buenaventura was born to a middle-class family in San Fernando City, La Union, Philippines.
It was at the Ateneo that Buenaventura met and schooled with the man who would later become president of the country, Jose Marcelo Ejercito, otherwise known as the actor and politician, Joseph Estrada.
A member of the committee of private and government experts that were charged with negotiating the restructuring, Buenaventura played a central role in the crisis' resolution.
[2] After his stint as Citibank chief in the Philippines, Buenaventura next served as Senior Vice President and Division Executive for Southern Europe, responsible for Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Turkey (1985-1989).
But the process was halted when Estrada, Buenaventura's primary supporter and appointing power, was booted out of office during EDSA II, a popular uprising occurring in January, 2001.
Although he was not eager to cling to his position in government, Buenaventura nonetheless stated that the stability of a fixed six-year term for a central bank governor was more important than the actual person sitting on the chair.
Although the transition of power from Estrada to Arroyo interrupted congressional discussions on the issue, the talks eventually resumed, tracking the rescue plan outlined by the BSP and the Bankers Association of the Philippines.
The BSP was also faced with another serious problem during Buenaventura's term: the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) had in June 2000 designated the Philippines as a ‘non-cooperative country’.
Buenaventura was repeatedly attacked by irate congressmen, who accused the BSP of attempting to amass power that would allow it to poke into the private accounts of individuals it considered suspicious.
Legislators did not want the BSP peeking into private accounts, fearing that such power would be used as a political tool to ferret out ill-gotten wealth that was being laundered through banks.
The debates lasted almost a year, with Buenaventura spending much of his time explaining international anti-money laundering laws and procedures, convincing lawmakers that the Philippines would be merely complying with standards already in use in the rest of the world.
He instituted key policy changes that had the effect of slowly dismantling well-entrenched interests that had until then been out of reach of the regulatory arms of the BSP as bank regulator.
[5] On more than one occasion, perennial in-fighting within the Arroyo administration fueled rumors that Buenaventura would be booted out of office for his fierce independence and refusal to pander to political interests while pressing for reforms.
In 2003, Bloomberg columnist William Pesek, Jr. commented that the “64-year old Buenaventura has proven to be what the Philippine economy needs most: an adult in the room.”[6][7] "He's the guy who has held it all together", said Cezar P. Consing, co-head of investment banking in Asia at J.P.
[8] Despite his popularity and record of success as governor, Buenaventura trumpeted years in advance that he had no intentions of accepting any other government position once his fixed term ended at the BSP.
By the time his six-year term ended, Buenaventura had twice (2002, 2003) been named one of the world's top, or "Grade A" central bankers by the New York-based magazine Global Finance,[9] reflecting the results of an annual survey of the world's central bankers based on their performance, effectiveness and general success in wielding monetary tools to steer their country's economy.
In 2001, Buenaventura was also awarded “Central Bank Governor of the Year for the Asian Region” by The Banker magazine, a sister publication of the Financial Times.