TERMITES feasted on his life savings.
Adonis Buemia, 70, has been delivering ice for a living for 30 years. Despite being a solo parent and a primary caregiver to a special child, his hard work paid off: he was able to buy a house and a brand-new tricycle.
Buemia also made sure he had savings. From his 300-peso daily income, Buemia saved P100 or a third of his daily income for savings; tucking away the money inside a cabinet in his home.
However, his savings almost disintegrated in the cabinet after termites gobbled the wooden cabinet and, eventually, the cash stored inside. Desperate to save his hard-earned cash, Buemia commented on the Facebook account of a program in a local TV station for help.
In turn, the program referred his case to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The BSP confirmed on Wednesday that it recently facilitated the replacement of nearly P50,000-worth of hard-earned yet termite-mutilated savings of Buemia.
The BSP Currency Policy and Integrity Department (CPID) immediately pre-evaluated what was left of the termite-infested bills. BSP Acting Deputy Director Nenette E. Malabrigo contacted the bank nearest Buemia’s residence and endorsed the mutilated cash for replacement. The BSP reported that Buemia received the replacement of his cash savings last August 11.
“Masayang-masaya talaga ako at napaliltan na at naibalik nang buo ang ipon ko. Maraming salamat sa bangko na tinanggap nila ’yong pera. At maraming salamat sa Bangko Sentral sa lahat ng tulong para mapalitan ’yong pera ko,” Buemia said. [I was really happy and I was able to recover and get my savings back in full. Many thanks to the bank that accepted the money and to the Central Bank for all the help to change my money.]
The BSP said that while they do replace dilapidated bills upon evaluation, Buemia’s story should encourage people to open up their own bank accounts.
“To avoid damage caused by termites, water, and other elements, the BSP encourages the public to keep their savings in BSP-supervised financial institutions where they will be safe and secure,” the BSP said in a statement.
The BSP earlier issued a circular, which aims to enable Filipinos to facilitate payments and save money with ease, accessibility, and convenience, through the Basic Deposit Account (BDA).
BDAs are affordable, no frills and easy to open that even those without valid IDs can apply using alternative documents or via the apps of selected banks. These deposit accounts only require an opening deposit amount of P100 or less and have no maintaining balance nor dormancy charges, but may earn interest for depositors.
For replacement of dilapidated bills, BSP’s regulations are as follows: the size of the remaining bill should be 60 percent or 3/5th of the original size of the bill; a portion of any of the two facsimile signatures must still be seen or observed; and, the windowed security thread must remain intact unless otherwise caused by fire, insect and any form of unintentional mutilation.