Media attention for bank run victims

Last Saturday, I related the sad story about how I practically worked like a slave and almost starved to death in the US – just because I didn’t want to touch my savings here in the Philippines. In the end, I lost all that money when Prime Savings Bank closed shop in just a snap.

The succeeding days after that bank run (which supposedly started in the Mindanao branches) were filled with speculation. Everyone was optimistic that the bank would eventually reopen. It had to. Central Bank governor Gabriel Singson was retiring soon. Surely, he would want to exit gracefully and the last thing he needed was a bank scandal like this one. Well, he quit and apparently never looked back.

But wait. Rafael Buenaventura was coming in as the new Central Bank governor. Surely, he would do something about the reopening of Prime Savings Bank. Sigh. To this day, I don’t think he’s aware of the fact that he inherited this problem when he assumed office five years ago.

Next to the uncertainty, the one annoying thing about your bank going on a holiday is the fact that you have to fill up so many forms – there were so many, it came to a point when I just kept filling them up and signing them without knowing what those were (that was a very bad thing to do – I admit). But fill up and sign I did until my hand ached. (I was even willing to sign with my toes – anything just to get my money back.)

In the process of monitoring the bank’s movement (we were going from one PDIC office to another), I got to meet some of my fellow depositors who also lost their money. There was one who was going to use that money for the schooling of her children. (I don’t know what happened to those poor kids.) Most heartbreaking was this retired old couple who was just living off the interest of their savings that is now all gone.

After a while, a ray of hope came upon us when Manila Bank offered to absorb Prime Savings Bank but on condition that all the depositors would initially get a certain amount, but the balance would be distributed in a period of five years (with interest if I’m not mistaken). Call. That wasn’t such a bad deal. I was all for it.

But the problem was, not everyone agreed to this kind of arrangement and Manila Bank wanted everyone – as in 100 percent of the depositors – to sign a consent form. Unfortunately, some depositors wanted to get everything at once and refused to sign the consent form. As a consequence, we all ended up getting nothing (except for the amount covered by the PDIC). Had they agreed to the offer of Manila Bank, we would have gotten the whole amount by now (it’s been five years since then).

I remember how those of us who agreed to the Manila Bank offer would smirk at those who refused to sign the consent form. And now, we still blame those who didn’t want to cooperate with Manila Bank for the no-deal. Sayang.

In a way, the depositors of First Savings Bank are still luckier than us because they are getting media attention (it’s all over the news on TV and was even tackled as a topic in Dong Puno Live last Thursday) and people in authority seem to be attending to them. I understand that PDIC is servicing the First Savings Bank depositors starting today.

In the case of the Prime Savings Bank depositors, no one seemed to want to step forward then because we were afraid to look like we’ve been had for investing in a bank like that. Even I who had access to media (although I was away from it that time since I was already a US immigrant then) just kept quiet about the whole thing because I was afraid to look like the biggest fool of them all.

But I’m calling for media attention now after learning a thing or two from the case of First Savings Bank, which was given a comprehensive coverage by the news programs on television.

I hope Central Bank would finally look into the case of Prime Savings Bank (believe me, it’s still unclear to me why it closed shop in the first place). The depositors already got the PDIC insurance – but only after a year (although it was not PDIC’s fault.) However, those who had big accounts are still waiting for the liquidation of assets.

As far as I am concerned, I’m practically resigned to the fact that I’m not getting back everything I lost there. But I still want to see the people responsible for the closure to be persecuted. Forgive me for crying for blood (you’d only understand me if you are in the same situation), but I want to see them fried right before my very eyes.