Protection for S&L groups sought

BAGUIO CITY—The House banking committee chair said savings and loan (S&L) associations, more popularly known as “paluwagans,” should not be regulated like ordinary banks by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

To secure the peace of mind of their members, S&L facilities should instead be classified by the BSP as a separate financial sector that must be protected by mandatory deposit insurance coverage, Batangas Rep. Nelson Collantes said at the 23rd convention of the Confederation of Nonstock Savings and Loan Associations Inc. (Consla) here.

Collantes said reforms in the banking industry would address these proposals for S&L facilities.

Although Consla members are under the BSP, nonstock S&L groups support the “common economic and social goals of the members,” he said.

“They must not be treated similarly… if we are to champion the welfare of the seven million members of [this S&L sector],” he said.

Collantes said he had been consulting Consla leaders about proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 8367, or the Revised Nonstock Savings and Loan Association Act of 1997, which underwent committee deliberations last month.

In a previous statement, Consla head Ricardo Nolasco Jr., who also chairs the board of trustees of one of the country’s biggest S&L associations, Air Materiel Wing Savings and Loan Association Inc., said he had asked the BSP to form a committee to study the unique operations of S&L associations compared to regular banking institutions.

This, he said, would help craft policies that are “tailor-fit for the unique operations” of S&L facilities. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon