PDIC starts paying Banco Filipino depositors

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) on Monday began disbursing funds to small depositors of Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank via postal money orders (PMOs). PDIC executive vice president Cristina Orbeta said in a statement the state-run insurer started mailing money orders to depositors whose respective account balances are not more than P5,000 and without outstanding loans and incomplete addresses. "This is the first batch of payments… The payment of PMOs to depositors of the thrift bank will continue daily," she said. "Please allow [some] time for the PMOs to reach your houses," Orbeta said, in reaching out to Banco Filipino depositors. Depositors can cash their PMOs in more than 1,400 post offices and over 300 branches of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines. As of December last year, 53 percent of the bank's accounts have a balance of P5,000 and below. Holders of such accounts are not required to file insurance claims with the PDIC as long as they have no outstanding loans and their addresses on record are complete, Orbeta said. Filing for insurance claims However, depositors with an account balance of over P5,000 and those without any outstanding loans and have incomplete address need to file for insurance claims. "The speed of payout depends on the completeness and accuracy of [Banco Filipino’s] records, the completeness of documents submitted by claimants, and the volume of deposit accounts to be examined," she said. "We reassure the public that we will pay deposit insurance for all valid accounts. The whole organization is being mobilized to fast-track the claims settlement operations to pay these accounts as soon as possible," the PDIC official added. On March 17, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) took over the Banco Filipino and placed it under the PDIC receivership. The BSP said Banco Filipino had been losing money since 2002, and that since 2007 its losses averaged P2 billion a year. Banco Filipino's liabilities also overwhelmed its liquid assets, the Bangko Sentral said, noting the net realizable assets of the bank stood at minus P8.4 billion. The BSP gave the thrift bank P3.5-billion emergency loan in 2002. About P2.6 billion of that loan remained unpaid. Two weeks ago, in the midst of a bank holiday, Banco Filipino asked the BSP for another emergency loan amounting to P3 billion. The Monetary Board, however, refused to grant the loan and eventually ordered that the bank be closed and its remaining assets secured. — JE/VS, GMA News