PDIC encourages loan customers of closed banks to avail incentives

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) on Thursday encouraged customers of closed banks in Western Visayas who have outstanding loan accountabilities to avail of their incentive program to help them settle their debts easier.

The PDIC held a press conference and roadshow in Iloilo City on Thursday to raise awareness for their Closed Bank Loan Incentive Program (CLIP 2.0).

The program, according to the PDIC’s website, aims to help closed banks’ borrowers to pay their outstanding loan balances of up to ₱5 million through incentives and discounts.

PDIC Assistant Vice President for Loan Management Department Freddy Galosmos said that the ‘2.0’ moniker in the current program is due to “enhancements” from its original iteration in 2021, including increasing the ceiling principal balance from ₱1 million, among others.

Availing of the program can help the borrowers maintain or regain their creditworthiness and reclaim or re-exercise complete ownership over mortgaged properties.

Customers with clean loans, or those with no collateral property, may avail of a 15 percent discount if their banks closed in 2022 up to the present, while borrowers of banks that closed until 2021 can avail of up to 30 percent, with penalties and interest already waived for them.

But those who have secured loans, or those with collateral, may still benefit from the program by availing of the waiver on penalties and other charges, and a 5 percent discount on interest.

PDIC’s data on Western Visayas as of December 31, 2022 indicated that there are up to ₱2.24 billion in outstanding loans from 20 closed banks comprising 124,788 bank accounts.

Galosmos pointed out that the city and province of Iloilo combined has the biggest chunk with 87,094 accounts from 6 banks having outstanding loans of up to ₱910.2 million.

The most prominent local bank closures in the past years include that of Valiant Bank and Opportunity Kauwagan Bank, both based in Iloilo City.

Borrowers need to submit a filled-out CLIP Application Form and attach their valid ID, to be sent via mail, email, or Facebook Messenger.

The PDIC would then provide them with a Statement of Account indicating comparative figures of their loan balance, between their promissory notes and that of the incentive program, with instructions on how to pay.

The PDIC is a government instrumentality created via Republic Act No. 3591, as amended, with the mandate of insuring deposits of all banks and strengthen the mandatory deposit insurance coverage system.

Their latest data as of December 31, 2021 indicated that Western Visayas has a total deposit of ₱449.39 million, with Iloilo City accounting for ₱169.3 million.