The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) announced that it has begun mailing check payments for valid deposit insurance claims to the depositors of the 12 Legacy-affiliated closed banks.

“The mailing of checks will allow the expedient payment of valid deposit insurance claims. As we finish validating the deposits and processing claims, we can immediately send out the check payments through registered mail. This way, depositors of the Legacy banks will not have to go to the PDIC offices to get their checks,” PDIC Executive Vice President in charge of Receivership, Liquidation and Claims Imelda S. Singzon said.

In a statement, PDIC explained that the checks were made out in the name of each depositor. PDIC explained that this is to guarantee that deposit insurance is paid only to the rightful owner of the account.

PDIC likewise allayed fears that checks may be lost or stolen en route to the depositors’ address indicated in the claim form they submitted to PDIC. “We haven’t had a single case of lost or stolen check. The checks will be sent through registered mail,” Singzon said.

PDIC also appealed for understanding from the depositors of the Legacy banks as examination and verification of voluminous accounts and convoluted transactions continue. PDIC will send a status letter to depositors whose accounts are still for further verification, or which need additional documents.

PDIC announced that in the course of its deposit examination, it has validated 51,180 deposit accounts representing 37.56% of the total deposits of P14 billion. The validated accounts amount to P1.76 billion as of May 15, 2009. PDIC also reported that doubtful claims amounted to P5.39 billion representing 27,395 accounts as of May 15, 2009. Doubtful claims are those that have incomplete documents or those that may have emanated from questionable transactions such as deposits with proceeds from fictitious loans, matured pre-need plans converted to deposits, and deposits related to car/motorcycle promo, among others.

PDIC assured the public that all valid deposit insurance claims will be paid. Under the PDIC Charter, the Corporation is mandated not only to determine the legitimate depositors on record but also to validate that the deposit account had actual funds inflow. Because the Deposit Insurance Fund is a public fund, PDIC payouts are subject to audit by the Commission on Audit.