Hello Brian,
I am a follower of your blog and I have also come to appreciate how blogosphere has been an effective means to bring to every ones attentions, issues that are conveniently side swept in traditional media.
I never though the day would come that I would email you, because I have a quiet life which is totally away from where chaos is sure to abound such as some party or being in politics. I live in an island province, I moved back here after living and working in Manila for a few of years 9 years to be exact.
While in Manila I invested my money in a time deposit at a Rural Bank that offered very high rates. I checked with the Philippine Deposit Insurance Company
( PDIC), (the state insurer of banks) if this bank, Rural Bank of Paranaque is a legitimate bank operating under the banking laws of the Philippines, it was.
I checked with Bangko Sentral if it is a legitimate bank in good condition, it was.
I put in my money, assured that if anything went wrong the PDIC would be able to insure my deposit. I was receiving my deposits promptly on time for a year and one month, then the bank caved in and placed in receivership under the PDIC in December 10, 2008.
Since then we have been waiting to be paid by the PDIC but all we got were conflicting press releases from the PDIC.
I am not a sophisticated banker, but I did do my prudent research as a potential depositor. Little did I know that the bank I placed my money in was part of the Legacy Group of Companies owned by a politician Celso de los Angeles.
I did not know that there were banking malpractice involved in the whole gamut of the Legacy Group and its 12 other owner rural banks.
I had no way of knowing that PDIC and Bangko Sentral were investigating this matter since 2005 and that a volley of Court orders have been issued for and against, not without help from influential friends from the government. I learned all this fiasco when it was all too late. I was watching the Senate congressional hearings and I could not believe what I got my money and my self into.
Together, me and other depositors decided to form a group together to help each other wade through banking and claiming information, support each other, and band together if in case we need to pursue a stronger fight to get or money back. There are Filipino OFW in our group who invested their hard earned money into the Legacy banks , money that is for their families and future of their children.
We call ourselves DEADBOL ( Depositors Enabling Depositors of Banks of Legacy). We currently have a yahoo group, and we also are working to register ourselves and pursue legal action if needed.
What we need now is media exposure. To inform the public of our story, that contrary to what they think the Legacy depositors are mostly Filipinos with hard earned monies earned by working abroad or small business.
I will be sending to you a series of document that our group wrote to illustrate to you the connections and intricacies in this legacy mess. As I am not as fluent as a writer or as technical and analytical in my discussion.
Thank you so much for your time on this and I more power to your endeavours.
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Dear Readers,
The following statement has been issued by "DEADBOL" (Depositors
enabling all depositors of banks of legacy).
This internet action group 'watchdog' was specifically set up to monitor PDIC’s progress in the handling of claims for victims of the Legacy Group banks.
******************
For the past several months, PDIC President Jose C. Nograles, speaking
on behalf of the of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC)
continues to claim that deposit insurance does not apply to accounts
which in the judgment of PDIC, do not have all the required documents on
file with a closed bank.
He goes on to suggest that it is the depositor’s responsibility to
ensure they use reliable banks, if they expect PDIC to cover their
deposits. This apparently means that banks that are licensed to operate
under existing applicable laws, approved for continued operation via
frequent audits by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and even when PDIC
claims they are insured and willingly accepts an annual premium for
deposit insurance, we have no assurance that they are reliable banks?
Does this mean that the laws, BSP and PDIC have no value within the
banking industry? It certainly seems that is what president Jose
Nograles is trying to convey to Filipinos.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN ?
It appears to mean that PDIC no longer feels an obligation to pay
legitimate deposits based on the rules laws and policies that have been
implemented and followed for years, and instead is implementing its own
'New Rules' as it sees fit. Filipinos and foreign businessman alike, can
no longer trust PDIC to honor their charter. Inherently, banks that
close due to bad banking or business practices also tend to not maintain
good documentation; that is the nature of business failures, including
banks.
The term "deposit" means the unpaid balance of money or its equivalent
received by a bank in the usual course of business and for which it has
given or is obliged to give credit to a commercial, checking, savings,
time or thrift account or which is evidenced by passbook, check and/or
certificate of deposit.
While depositors are told that the majority of claims will be denied,
due to lack of documentation, PDIC refuses to accept alternative proof
of legitimate deposits. One would think that a legitimate deposit
insurance corporation would be interested in doing what is necessary to
ensure that honest depositors are paid, and would accept documents that
could demonstrate that a depositor is not a 'fake' and actually
deposited money into an account. Things like their copy of the bank
receipt for deposit, receipts for managers checks showing payment to the
bank or deposit slips showing deposits to Legacy accounts in other major
banks. However, repeatedly, depositors are not allowed to submit this
information.
So for a depositor to follow the 'New Rules' and still ensure their
deposits are covered by deposit insurance, they will be required to
personally inspect all the bank documents on at least a monthly basis.
IS THIS REALISTIC? Has PDIC informed the banks to prepare for this and
are banks prepared to receive thousands of requests to inspect their
documents every month?
These actions will have irrevocable consequences for the Philippine
Banking industry and the countries economy. As all Filipinos come to
realize that the PDIC no longer insures bank deposits, they will
withdraw their money from the local banks. As foreign businessmen find
their deposits are no longer safe, they will start to withdraw their
business from the Philippines and finally as foreigners report this
failure to pay on legitimate accounts, to their embassies, they will
issue additional warnings to their citizens to never deposit money in
Philippine banks, since the deposits are not insured.
Ultimately, these will be the consequences of the shortsighted new
policies implemented by president Jose Nograles in an attempt to save
money. Money that was paid to his corporation by banks, including Legacy
banks, on behalf of depositors who falsely believed they were purchasing
deposit insurance.
Which is worse ...........The Legacy scam or the PDIC scam?
As a final note, should PDIC fail to deliver on its obligations to
depositors, then the consequences for the whole banking system and for
the economy of the country will be catastrophic.
‘DEADBOL’ can be contacted via Yahoo forums and is a group dedicated to
assisting depositors obtain PDIC reimbursement for legitimate Legacy
depositors and take legal action as necessary
