Day of Reckoning

If you read the pinoy money talk fora, it seems that PDIC payments have slowed down. A lot of member-depositors are complaining of delays inspite of the submission of requirements e.i. affidavits. Depositors had executed affidavits, paid the notarial fees, personally traveled to the PDIC Makati office, expecting to receive check/s through the mail in reasonable time. But if you read the complaints, some have been waiting futilely for six or seven weeks.

What else can you expect from a government agency that has practically tied up its funds on long-term investments in the commercial banks. PDIC has no money: in fact, its president has practically admitted to media when he said that his company does not project to earn any profit this fiscal year considering the number of banks that have closed since December, 2008. He did not say it, but PDIC will lose money this year. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of depositors of the closed banks are kept waiting and hoping, but only a few checks are mailed out by the PDIC. Those checks are intended to prop up the illusion that PDIC is fulfilling its obligations.

It would be most interesting to see how PDIC could make its statutory obligation to pay all valid claims within six months from the date of filing. We know of several claimants who filed on March 23, 2009, and September 23 would be the day of reckoning.