Banks bring relief to Taal evacuees !-- -- Lawrence Agcaoili (The Philippine Star) - January 21, 2020 - 12:00am MANILA, Philippines Local banks are doing their share in helping ease the burden of evacuees from the Taal Volcano eruption, offering payment holidays to their clients in severely affected areas. Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) was the first to provide deferred payment programs to clients of BPI, BPI Family Savings Bank, and BPI Direct BanKO as part of its disaster response efforts.

BPI president and chief executive officer Cezar Consing said the country's oldest bank is committed to help fellow Filipinos affected by this natural calamity. "We'll do what we can to help our clients and communities that are most adversely affected by the Taal eruption," Consing said.

The BPI Group of Companies decided to provide deferred payment programs for its credit card, personal loan, housing loan, auto loan, business loan and micro business loan clients in the severely affected areas. Under the program, clients are allowed to pay their amount due 30 days from the current due date without penalties.

The deferred payment option is available to clients in good standing, but still subject to bank approval. An employee-led donation drive is also being organized wherein the funds to be raised will be matched by BPI Foundation.

Employee volunteers have also committed their time to repack and distribute relief goods consisting of basic survival necessities. Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

(RCBC) has implemented a payment holiday for cardholders living in Batangas and Cavite who are unable to make a payment for their existing loans. "We stand with our fellow Filipinos who are being affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.

For our cardholders who live in the following areas in Batangas and Cavite and are unable to make a payment, we have implemented a payment holiday. You can skip your current due date and make a payment 30 days after," RCBC said in an advisory.

Areas covered by the payment holiday are Agoncillo. Alitagtag, Balete, Cuenca, Laurel, Lemery, Lipa City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Nicolas, Santa Teresita, Taal, Talisay, Tanauan in Batangas as well as Tagaytay and Mendez in Cavite.

Likewise, RCBC extended a 30-day payment holiday to cardholders who live in areas where RCBC branches are temporarily closed, including the rest of Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Metro Manila, and whose due date fell between Jan.13 and 15. "We will continue to assess the situation and will update the payment holiday program as needed.

We hope and pray with you that the situation will soon improve," RCBC added. BDO Unibank Inc.

is also conducting relief efforts to help victims of the eruption of Taal Volcano last week. The country's largest bank said its Batangas-Sto.

Tomas branch conducted relief efforts covering 1,530 families in six barangays in Sto. Tomas.

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