Veterans Bank ranks 18 in banking industry

THE Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) now ranked 18 in the banking industry, PVB president and chief operating officer Ricardo A. Balbido, Jr. announced Friday.

Having P57 billion in assets, Balbido said “PVB is buying banks.”

“We have now a total of 60 branches nationwide and enjoy considerable growth and success in recent years,” Balbido said in his welcome speech during the inauguration of the newly-renovated PVB building in Cagayan de Oro located at Tiano-Abejuela Streets.

He narrated that when the bank fist started its operations in 1963, when Congress enacted a law using the Japanese retaliation fund paying to the soldiers of World War II, it was for the bank management to make sure that the PVB should be 100 percent owned by World War II veterans.

Balbido said over the years the PVB has evolved and continued to allocate 20 percent of its income for its stake holders’ benefits through dividends and for the maintenance of the Veterans Memorial Hospital.

He even announced of opening more branches at the provincial areas that are viable for the operations of the banking institutions, citing cities of Kidapawan, Pagadian, and Tuguegarao.

Alfredo Santiago, PVB vice president, said the veteran-owned bank is continuously growing and improving its services to the veterans and the local government units as its partners on loans and automated teller machine system on payroll and other cash management services.

During same occasion, Balbido underscored the public’s misperceptions about the Veterans Bank saying it is 100 percent owned by World War II veterans and not by the government that it can never be controlled by any institutions.

“The first misperception is that PVB only caters to veterans. It is also a misperception that it is owned by the government,” he said.