How a money lender lost to a banker

By Herbert Vego

IN this column many issues ago, I wrote about the lament of a bank depositor, retired Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) employee Bernardita Lerio, whose bank balance at the Landbank (Plaza Libertad, Iloilo City branch) had “evaporated”.

To recap, she tried to withdraw money using her ATM card on a Sunday. Instead of dispensing cash, however, the machine “ate” her card, prompting the security guard to ask her to come back “tomorrow.”

Indeed, the bank personnel gave back her card on Monday. Once more, she inserted her card into the machine, only to find out that her expected balance of P26,000 had diminished to only P63.73. She complained to the bank manager.

To cut her long story short, until now the bank has failed to trace the cause of her money’s disappearance and so would not refund her.

This time, let me tell you about a worse experience of a businesswoman who lent a substantial amount to a “trusted” local banker (names withheld) who needed to expand his loan portfolio in 2019.

To the lender’s dismay, the bank declared bankruptcy and was taken over by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). As published in the May 17, 2019 issue of the Daily Guardian, the PDIC takeover showed that the bank “has run out of reserve funds and will undergo receivership. Depositors will then be advised how and when they can claim their deposit insurance to a maximum of ₱500,000. The bank assets will later be liquidated and the proceeds will cover the bank’s payables and deposits not covered by PDIC insurance.”

It turned out worse for our lender friend. Being a non-depositor, she could not recover a single centavo of the money she had lent to the banker who had issued her post-dated checks which bounced.

She sued the banker for violation of Batas Pambansa 22, the law which penalizes the issuer of a dishonored check with imprisonment of 30 days to one year. The case is still being heard at the Regional Trial Court (RTC).

The saddest part, she told me during a chance meeting at Iloilo City Hall, is that the banker had put up a gasoline station, a currency-exchange business and a hamburger eatery.

“He must have used our money to put them up,” she cried.

As to why she used the pronoun “our,” she was not the only “victim” of the banker.

Napakasakit, Kuya Eddie…

-oOo-

WHY THEY DON’T SAVE MONEY IN THE BANK

ACCORDING to a study conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), “63% of Filipino households don’t have savings and a majority of them live from paycheck to paycheck.”

Those with excess money feel it is not worth saving it in a bank account which grows at a measly rate of 0.10% to 0.25% per year. Accounts that fall below the bank’s required minimum deposit gradually “melt” because of the penalty imposed. As if this were not bad enough, the earned interest also shrinks due to government-imposed withholding tax.

I remember a tale shared to me by a housewife, for whose daughter she opened a “kiddie savings account.”  She deposited additional money into it month after month until it hit the P5,000 mark in one year. When she withdrew the money to buy medicine for her daughter, she realized that the accrued interest was insignificant.

She comforted herself with the thought that she could not have bought medicine had she not saved that amount.

In my case, in fairness, I save money in the bank because that’s where my “talent fees” pass through.

-oOo-

A REMINDER FROM MORE POWER

IT has been one week since March 5 when fire completely destroyed 54 houses and partially damaged 36 others in densely-populated Zone 1 of Barangay Airport, Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

While the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) could not ascertain its origin, it reminds me of a similar fire “electrical in nature” that ravaged 20 houses in the same locality on March 11, 2022.

March is Fire Prevention Month, but power pilferers seem unaware of the harm they cause.

In its latest Facebook post, MORE Power issued this warning:

“Electrical theft endangers lives and causes costly damage.

“Let’s work together this Fire Prevention Month to prevent electrical hazards and make our community safer. MORE Power strictly implements the Anti-Pilferage Act with the help of our local barangays through MORE Protek.

“We remind everyone to join us in eradicating any unauthorized electric connections to ensure the safety and security of our community.”