THE get-rich schemes that scammed thousands was felt by a community bank, which covers rural areas all over the country.

“We saw some effects but after the police did their part, bumalik naman,” said Jesus Antonio Itchon, president of BDO Network Bank, in a press conference last Friday, September 20, in Davao City.

Itchon admitted that they did not conduct a thorough inquiry into the unusual movement of money from their bank, but the period during which this happened and from what clients said after police cracked down on the companies propagating the scams points toward these.

“May correlation ang movement ng deposits. (But) It’s hard to pinpoint,” when asked how much the effect has been.

BDO Network Bank advocates financial wellness and responsible lending especially to one of its target groups, the public school teachers, government’s biggest workforce.

“Kung hindi pinapalitan ang environment by advocating responsible lending in government agencies employees, magsasangla pa rin yan ng mga ATM (If the environment of government employees are not reformed through advocating responsible lending, the practice of pawning their ATM cards will continue),” he said. Pawning ATM cards to loan sharks is a common practice among government workers, including public school teachers all over the country. There are around 22.9-million teachers all over the country providing a fertile breeding ground for loan sharks.

For its part, BDO Network Bank not only offers savings, deposits, and salary loans services but also Kabuhayan Loans, providing access to working capital to help micro and small entrepreneurs grow their business, accumulate capital and grow. Some of these enterprises were showcased in a Kabuhayan Festival at SM City Davao Annex over the weekend.

“Nakakatuwa po talaga dahil minsan lumalapit sa iyo para sabihin na ito ang natulong sa amin,” said BDO Network Bank senior vice president Alberto Quioque in the same forum. “They get access to funds they did not have access before. Nakaka-proud.”

Quiogue pointed out that they have nothing against taking out loans, but this should come hand in hand with financial wellness. With their advocacy, they have seen how loans are now used productively, through financing education, medical needs, building homes, and funding businesses, in that order.

BDO Network Bank used to be the One Network Bank Inc, which started as the Network Rural Bank of Southern Philippines in 1992 with just nine branches and became ONB in 2004 when it consolidated with the Rural Bank of Panabo, which had a strong portfolio of loans, and the Provident Rural Bank of Cotabato. It became the rural bank subsidiary of BDO Unibank Inc. in July 2015. It now has a total of 237 branches and offices with its head office in Sasa, Davao City.