Payment set for depositors of closed Lingayen bank

MANILA, Philippines - Depositors of the shuttered Rural Bank of Lingayen Inc. or Gulf Bank will be paid starting Apr. 25, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) said yesterday.

In a statement, the PDIC said claims settlement operations for the Gulf Bank’s head office depositors will take place on Apr. 25, 28, and 29.

The servicing of claims for clients of the bank’s Alaminos and Dagupan branches, meanwhile, will be on Apr. 25 and 28.

Those with deposits at the bank’s Baguio and Mangatarem branches will be paid on Apr. 25 only, the PDIC said.

Claims settlement operations will be held at the banks’ premises.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ordered the closure of the Rural Bank of Lingayen earlier this month. The PDIC took over the bank as a receiver on Apr. 4.

The PDIC reminded depositors with accounts amounting to P50,000 and below that they do not need to file deposit insurance claims unless they have outstanding obligations or incomplete addresses with the bank.

These depositors will receive their claims through the mail.

Depositors who will file should present an accomplished claim form, original copy of evidence of deposit, and two valid IDs during settlement operations.

Depositors may also file their claims through the mail, the state deposit insurer added.

Bank clients who will not be able to file their claims during the said dates may submit their claims through the mail or personally at the PDIC office in Makati.

“In accordance with the provisions of the PDIC charter, the last day for filing deposit insurance claims in the closed Gulf Bank is on Apr. 4, 2016,” the PDIC said.

The bank, a five-unit rural bank based in Lingayen, Pangasinan, had 12,991 accounts with total deposit liabilities of P364.39 million.