Banco Filipino Fiasco

I spent the afternoon with friends today and one of them, a depositor of Banco Filipino, lamented the current status of the crippled bank.  "Bank run", she said.

Apparently, their family corporation has deposited a substantial amount in the said bank.  The PDIC-insured amount of Php 500,000.00 is but a fraction to the amount they have been saving in Banco Filipino.  "From the looks of it, it's quite a weak bank", I remarked, remembering that it was ordered to close back in 1985.  The bank resurfaced in the late 1990's.

Incidentally, one of the members of our afternoon party today was a manager of one of the more reputable and "stronger" banks in the city.  My friend consulted with him about the possibility of retrieving the whole amount they had deposited.  The elderly manager said that there is a new circular that has certain requirements in order to retrieve the money, or at least the published PDIC-insured amount of Php500,000.00.

The Sunstar Daily column on the matter dated March 18, 2011 is right on mark when the columnist wrote that the "irony (of the catchphrase "Subok na matibay, subok na matatag") isn't lost on angry clients who entrusted their money to the bank".

For the sake of my friend, and all the other depositors, especially those who endeavor to save aggressively (whether in small amounts or by the millions), I hope they retrieve their money at the soonest time.

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Here's the GMA news link on the Banco Sentral ng Pilipinas order on the closure of Banco Filipino due to its Php 8.5 billion liability.  I wonder how that came to be?

CLICK HERE for an informative and interesting read on the history and/of weaknesses of Banco Filipino by Lala Rimando.  Enlightening.