At least 6,000 rural bank depositors will have to wait to get their money back.Friday’s closure of the Rural Bank of Subangdaku was the consequence of seven branches being placed under the receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). The Cebu-based rural bank is headed by president Paz Radaza, wife of Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza. Ferdinand Beluan, PDIC department manager of receivership and liquidation 1-C, said he had yet to confirm if the 6,000 depositors belong only to the RBS Mandaue branch or these are the depositors of the seven branches of the rural bank. “I am not yet sure of the number. It may be 6,000 for the seven branches or 6,000 for the head office alone,” he said. Beluan said they served the notice to RBS management last Friday at about 3 p.m. in the bank's head office in barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City. He said Sonia Go, RBS board treasurer, was present when the receivership notice was served. “The management was very cooperative. They told us they will extend any help should we need documents in the process of undergoing our reviews,” he told Cebu Daily News. Beluan said PDIC has also taken over the six branches of RBS in Talisay City and Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental, General Santos City in South Cotabato and Digos City in Davao del Sur. The PDIC takeover followed after RBS declared a bank holiday on Jan. 5. In a statement sent to CDN, RBS said the board of directors decided to declare the bank holiday after “experiencing massive withdrawals in some of their branches.” These branches were located near rural banks owned by the financial troubled Legacy Group. Because of the massive withdrawals, RBS said they are unable to pay its liability dues. “The board determined that in view of this unfortunate event, which uncovered and worsened problems in RBS which are specific and unique to the bank, it will not be able to pay its liabilities as they become due in the ordinary course of business.” To assist depositors, Beluan said yesterday that each branch has at least one information officer from PDIC who is open to answer questions. In RBS Mandaue, about 26 depositors visited the bank on Friday to ask when and how they will get their money back. “The atmosphere has been calm. We have two information officers in the head office (Mandaue) who are willing to answer questions from clients,” said Beluan. The PDIC team will continue reviewing the bank documents over the weekend. Beluan said he couldn’t pinpoint the date when the review will finish and when PDIC will distribute claim forms to clients. “We are undergoing the same process with other legacy banks. We are reviewing the documents and let's see how this will progress. Unlike last December, we do not foresee any holiday declaration this month so the review will continue.” After the document review, he said, the PDIC will be issuing claim forms. Depositors can then submit evidence of deposit to the PDIC on the date stated in their claim forms.
Then, depositors can receive their checks where they can get their money. For closed banks under the Legacy Group, Beluan said PDIC is still reviewing documents. Meanwhile, Daniel Arcenas, president of the Cebu Federation of Rural Banks, denied rumors that the Rural Bank Association of the Philippines (RBAP) held an emergency meeting to discuss the RBS closure. The CFRB is a member of RBAP. “We are holding our regular monthly meetings (for RBAP). As for CFRB, since the year has just started, we have yet to determine our meeting schedule,” said Arcenas. | 
