GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/10 Dec.) — The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) has placed one of the oldest rural banks here under receivership, stunning its more than 2,000 depositors.
Nathanel Tumbokon, PDIC public information officer here, said Tuesday they took over the Sarangani Rural Bank Inc. (SRBI) located along the P. Acharon Boulevard effective last December 6 based on a memorandum issued by the PDIC central office’s monetary board.
He did not cite the exact reasons for the takeover but hinted that it was due to problems with the bank’s operations.
“We’re focused right now on the immediate processing of the claims of the banks borrowers,” he told reporters.
SRBI, which is considered one of the pioneering rural banks in the area, celebrated its 55th anniversary last August 18.
The bank reportedly has over 2,000 depositors, who are mostly vendors at the city’s central public market and operators of business establishments along the P. Acharon Boulevard.
A bank information sheet posted at the website of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines identified its chairman and president as Francisco L. Laiz, Jr.
Tumbokon said they have scheduled a meeting of the bank’s depositors and borrowers on Wednesday to facilitate the initial processing of the claims.
During the meeting, he said the bank’s former clients will be informed and guided properly by the agency of the requirements, the standard processes and what to do when the agency’s claim settlement operation takes place.
He assured that the agency will process all the claims of the bank’s qualified depositors within the P500,000 maximum deposit insurance each as provided by law.
“Our target is to complete the processing and releasing of all depositors’ claims within the month,” Tumbokon added.
From January 1 to Nov. 15 this year, the PDIC has already placed 16 rural banks, four of which are in Mindanao, under receivership.
Most of the banks were put under receivership by the PDIC after they were closed down by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas due to insolvency. (MindaNews)
