Banco Filipino branches closed for 'bank holiday'

Banco Filipino branches closed for 'bank holiday'

From: abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 03/15/2011 2:51 PM | Updated as of 03/15/2011 4:50 PM

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) - Several branches of Banco Filipino on Tuesday said they were closed for a bank holiday.

A person in one branch said management is "fixing something with the BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas]." Banco Filipino officials couldn't be reached for comment.

Banco Filipino has been seeking P25 billion in rehabilitation assistance and P19 billion in damages from the central bank for the 1985 closure that the Supreme Court said was illegal.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco and two deputy governors didn't immediately reply to text messages seeking a statement.

Spokeswoman Fe dela Cruz said a statement would be forthcoming.

In a separate development, Banco Filipino's thinly traded stock was delisted by the stock exchange last week, together with four other companies, for failure to submit regular reports.

'Extraordinary financial panic'

At the Butuan and Zamboanga branches of the bank, a notice, signed by Banco Filipino Executive Vice President Maxy Abad, said that the bank is "suffering from extraordinary financial panic" which they attributed to "a well-orchestrated smear campaign," by the BSP.

"The bank is exhausting all efforts to protect its depositors by asking the BSP to stave off the heavy withdrawals by denying the derogatory news articles attributed to them and by providing emergency loan assistance after submitting sufficient collateral," the statement read.

"Despite the urgency of all these requests, we have not recieved any official word from the BSP/MB [Monetary Board] on the action they have taken, if any. Furthermore, we have also reiterated the immediate implementation of the approved business plan as ordered by the Makati-RTC. Moreover, the court order prohibits the BSP/MB, its officials, agents and any persons acting for and in their behalf from committing any act prejudicial to the operation of the bank," it said.

"Kindly inform and clarify this matter to our depositors and assure them that as soon as we receive official notice of any favorable action taken by the BSP/MB we shall advise them accordingly," the statement ended.

Surprised depositors

Depositors in branches in Kamias, Timog, and Muñoz in Quezon City were surprised to find out the bank is closed Tuesday.

Medilina Balogomolon, a depositor, rushed to the bank's Kamias branch to check if the bank was really closed. She tried to withdraw money from the bank's ATM but was only able to get P400 before the machine showed the message "Terminal is unavailable."

Ricardo Galang, who owns a beer house beside the BF Kamias branch and is also a depositor, said the bank was still open Monday.

They saw the tellers counting money in the afternoon but nobody advised them that the bank will be closed today.

Vendors beside the BF Muñoz branch like Marilyn Flores are worried that they will be unable to get their money.

Depositors in provinces worried

Banco Filipino branches in the provinces were also closed Monday.

In Cagayan de Oro, the ABS-CBN News team was only able to talk to a lone guard at the bank. He said he was only directed to tell customers that the bank will be closed for the day.

In Naga City, several worried depositors rushed to the bank, only to be greeted by a security guard who told them that management suspended transactions for the day due to a meeting of bank officials in Manila.

The branch in Iloilo City was also closed, and the bank's ATM machine was also unavailable, customers said.

Branches in Dagupan and Isabela were also closed. Reports from ANC Business; Zen Hernandez, ABS-CBN News; Joyce Clavecillas, ABS-CBN Iloilo; Rizza Mozstar, ABS-CBN Naga; Richmond Hinayon, ABS-CBN Butuan; Nevi Calma, ABS-CBN Dagupan; and RJ Rosalado, ABS-CBN Zamboanga

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