2 rural banks in Pampanga declare bank holidays

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is faced with more trouble in the rural banking sector as two rural banks in Pampanga with related owners have declared bank holidays over the last two weeks.

BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla said yesterday bank regulators were aware of the problems faced by the Rural Bank of Sta. Rita and Rural Bank of Bacolor and have begun looking into their cases while ensuring that their depositors’ interests were protected.

Espenilla heads the BSP’s Supervision and Examination Sector, which is directly responsible for ensuring that banks are fully complying with banking rules and regulations, and meting out penalties for violations.

BSP officials met with the Philippine Deposit Insurance Co. on Tuesday night but both institutions were prohibited by law to discuss the particulars of the case.

The meeting was prompted by undisclosed problems of the Rural Bank of Sta. Rita, which declared a bank holiday before Christmas and remained closed as of yesterday, and the Rural Bank of Bacolor, which went into a bank holiday last week.

Despite the two banks, Espenilla, however, said rural banking in Pampanga is “generally strong and healthy.”