ESCUDERO TO PDIC: "DON'T PAY DUBIOUS ACCOUNTS"

Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero is skeptic about the validity of claims by 12 rural banks owned by the Legacy Group that it has about P12 billion worth of deposit accounts.

Based on current Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) records, only 3% (P381 million) of verified accounts worth P6.43 billion in banks owned by Legacy are eligible for insurance payments, and that around P6.05 billion remains questionable.

"Before the PDIC even starts considering insurance payments to depositors of these banks, it should first focus on protecting the deposits and investments of the public in general," Escudero said.

He added that the PDIC should also try to strengthen the credibility and integrity of banks through the application of proper safeguards as stipulated in RA 8754 (the Banking Law of 2000) and RA 8799 (the Securities Regulation Code).

The PDIC is a government body under the Department of Finance tasked to assess and collect insurance assessments from member-banks to insure their deposit accounts.

In case of bank closures, it processes and services claims for insured deposits, which are insured to a maximum coverage of P250,000 per depositor.

"I believe the officials of these rural banks owned by Legacy should be sued for attempting to fool the PDIC. I want to caution the PDIC against paying off claims for these dubious accounts claims," Escudero added.