MANDAUE CITY, Philippines - An official of a Mandaue-based rural bank clarified Sunday that it was not connected with the closed Rural Bank of Subangdaku (RBS) in Mandaue City and assured it will continue to service its clients.Amelia Tudtud-Bersonda, assistant manager of the Rural Bank of Mandaue Inc., said the two rural banks have different stockholders and operations. “Our major stockholders are the Tudtud and Seno families,” Bersonda said in a phone interview. “The Tudtud side predominantly comes from the family of former Cebu City Councilor Bing-Bing Tudtud. The Seno side is that of Dr. Eriberto Seno Jr.”
Tudtud-Bersonda, who is also secretary of the Cebu Federation of Rural Banks (CFRB), assured that the almost 50-year-old Rural Bank of Mandaue remains financially sound and ready to serve its clients.
She issued this clarification after bank representatives received worried calls from clients and depositors after reading about the closure of RBS on Sunday, which carried the headline “Mandaue rural bank closes.”
The bank referred to in the story is another bank in Mandaue, not Mandaue Rural Bank. RBS, whose president is Lapu-Lapu City first lady Paz Radaza, was served a notice of receivership last Friday by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) after the rural bank declared a bank holiday on January 5 after “experiencing massive withdrawals in some of their branches.” The RBS main office in Barangay (village) Subangdaku, Mandaue City was affected by jitters over bank holidays suddenly declared by other rural banks of the Legacy group starting December 2008. The PDIC has also taken over the six branches of RBS in Talisay City and Lapu-Lapu in Cebu, Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental, General Santos in South Cotabato and Digos City in Davao del Sur.
In contrast, the Rural Bank of Mandaue Inc. has only one branch located in A. Del Rosario Avenue, Mandaue City. It is a member of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines. Tudtud-Bersonda, the assistant manager, said generalization that rural banks in Cebu and the country are in a negative state should not be made since each bank has its own management. | 
