Bankers surprised by Comelec’s 6-day ban on large cash withdrawals

MANILA, Philippines — Banks remained confused and unaware of the details of the “money ban” ordered by the Commission on Elections, as of Tuesday, and which was reported to take effect on Wednesday (May 8) until May 13.

Edward Leandro Garcia, president of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), said members of the rural banking industry have not yet been formally informed of its guidelines and that banks have only heard about the ban from the press.

There are about 500 rural banks in the country.

“Right now, we have not been officially informed of the ban. If there is such a directive, then the Comelec should be communicating this with the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas), which in turn should be the one to give us (banks) the order because the BSP is our regulator,” Garcia said in a phone interview.

But reacting solely on what has been reported by the press, Garcia expressed doubt on the prudence of the money ban.

“If this is true, this might adversely affect business and trade transactions,” he said.

Under the money ban, bank withdrawals worth over P100,000 per day shall be prohibited starting Wednesday (May 8) until May 13. According to Comelec, the objective of the ban is to curb vote buying.

But Garcia said imposing the money ban might not be the appropriate measure to achieve the Comelec’s objective.

“If money would indeed be used for vote buying, the ban may already be too late. By this time, money allegedly for vote buying is highly likely to be already in the hands of the politicians,” Garcia said.

Meantime, a media relations officer from the Bank of the Philippine Islands said BPI has not yet received any formal order with regard to the money ban by the Comelec.

“We have not yet been officially informed about it as of this time. We have not received any directive from the BSP either,” the media relations officer said. She said BPI could not yet issue any notice to its clients as of press time because there should be a formal directive from the BSP.

As of press time Tuesday night, the BSP had not yet issued a statement on the money ban but said it was preparing to do so.

Nonetheless, Comelec itself admitted that the BSP was not supportive of the money ban.