Bulacan bank shut down for insolvency

PLARIDEL, Bulacan—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has foreclosed a 38-year-old rural bank that caters mostly to small and medium-scale enterprises in Bulacan, due to insolvency.

The BSP has placed the Cooperative Rural Bank of Bulacan (CRBB) under receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Co. (PDIC) since May 24. Affected are CRBB’s main office here and its branches in 13 towns and cities in the province.

The Inquirer learned that CRBB had a P79-million debt to the Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corp. in Makati City, as cited by notices of foreclosure and sheriff’s sale concerning the bank that were published in a local community paper on May 14.

In a statement, the PDIC said the bank held 44,388 accounts with total deposit liabilities of P2.17 billion as of March 31.

“A total of 44,166 deposit accounts or 99.5 percent of the accounts have balances of P500,000 or less and are fully covered by deposit insurance. Total insured deposits amounted to P1.79 billion or 82.4 percent of the total deposits,” said the PDIC.

Aside from the CRBB head office in Banga I here, also closed were its branches in the towns of Angat, Balagtas, Baliuag, Bocaue, Bulakan, Meycauayan, Paombong, Pulilan, San Miguel and Sta. Maria and the cities of Malolos and San Jose del Monte.

Zhorina Aldana, Bulacan director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said the foreclosure caught her by surprise. She said it may affect micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses which availed themselves of DTI-sponsored programs through the CRBB. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon