By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — November 21, 2025
3:00 a.m.
The country is asleep.
Vault label:
“In Case Banks Fail, Save Depositors”
Thieves:
DOF + PDIC
(in government barong, not balaclavas; way scarier)
Loot:
YOUR P107.23 billion
Official excuse:
“It was idle.”
Translation:
Your fire extinguisher was idle,
so we sold it to fund another overpriced bridge with ribbon-cutting.
Welcome to the Philippines,
where your life savings are now officially classified as “loose change for priority projects.”
Keep sleeping if you still can..
This isn’t fiscal management. This is a shell game with the public’s life savings, and the Filipino depositor is the mark.
The Midnight Raid: How They Stole Your Safety Net
In January 2025, the PDIC quietly wired P107.23 billion of its Deposit Insurance Fund straight to the Bureau of the Treasury. Official story: it was required by the 2024 General Appropriations Act and rubber-stamped by a secret OGCC legal opinion that still hasn’t seen daylight.
The Usual Suspects (Same Crooks, New Heist)
- Department of Finance – always “broke” right before election season
- PDIC leadership – the security guard who handed over the keys
- Congress – slipped the fine print into the GAA
- OGCC – the in-house lawyer who’ll sign anything
The Real Victims (Spoiler: That’s You)
Every Juan and Maria who believed the P1-million deposit insurance guarantee was real.
The Suits Finally Grew a Spine: Business Groups Go Nuclear
When the Makati Business Club, PCCI, FINEX, ICD, and PFA — the most pro-government capitalists in the country — start screaming “return the damn money,” you know the robbery crossed the line.
Government Defense #1: “It’s Just Idle Cash!”
Idle? The entire purpose of the DIF is to be liquid the second a bank implodes.
Calling reserves “idle” is like calling a soldier’s loaded rifle “idle” because war hasn’t started yet.
Read the PDIC Charter (RA 3591, as amended) yourself: the DIF is a sacred trust, not a fiscal piggy bank.
Government Defense #2: “Totally Legal, Bro!”
A general appropriations law + an in-house memo somehow overrides a special law.
The Supreme Court already demolished this argument in the PhilHealth TRO cases and BSP v. COA (G.R. No. 210314). Special charters win.
Government Defense #3: “The Fund Is Still Adequate!”
Translation: “We used the same Excel sheet that said PhilHealth had ‘excess’ reserves.”
Déjà Vu All Over Again: The PhilHealth Playbook 2.0
Same script, new victim. We’re not doing the trilogy.
Coming Soon to a Bank Near You: Panic Withdrawals
The ghost of 1997 starts coughing. Your tita stuffs cash under the mattress again.
When the Canaries Start Screaming, Get Out of the Mine
These business groups underwrite the country’s bonds. When they panic, we should all panic.
The Non-Negotiable Demand from This Cave
Order an immediate, independent, forensic COA special audit that answers three questions:
- Legality – Did they violate RA 3591?
- Procedure – Midnight board meeting with zero disclosure?
- Prudential Impact – Did they just remove the last fire extinguisher?
Until that audit is public, return every single centavo of the P107.23 billion. No excuses.
Anything less means your deposit insurance is just another budget line item—until the banks start falling and the vault is empty.
Return the money.
Or own the bank run.
— Barok
Key Citations
- Republic Act No. 3591, as amended. Official Gazette.
- The Philippines. Republic Act No. 7656: An Act Requiring Government-Owned Or -Controlled Corporations To Declare Dividends Under Certain Conditions To The National Government, And For Other Purposes. 9 Nov. 1993. LawPhil.
- Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas v. Commission on Audit, G.R. No. 210314, 12 Oct. 2021, Supreme Court E-Library.
- ABS-CBN News. “Business groups urge gov’t to return P107 billion to PDIC.” 19 Nov. 2025.
- Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation. “Deposit Insurance.” PDIC.
- BusinessWorld. “Supreme Court issues TRO vs PhilHealth fund transfer.” Metrobank Wealth Insights, 30 Oct. 2024.
- Cigaral, Ian Nicolas P. “P1M bank deposit protection: How it works.” Inquirer.net, 15 Mar. 2025.
- ₱75 Million Heist: Cops Gone Full Bandit
- “We Will Take Care of It”: Bersamin’s P52-Billion Love Letter to Corruption
- “Skewed Narrative”? More Like Skewered Taxpayers!
- “My Brother the President Is a Junkie”: A Marcos Family Reunion Special
- Zubiri’s Witch Hunt Whine: Sara Duterte’s Impeachment as Manila’s Melodrama Du Jour
- Zaldy Co’s Billion-Peso Plunder: A Flood of Lies Exposed
- Youth in Peril: The Philippines’ Struggle to Address Its Teen Pregnancy Epidemic
- Witness Protection’s Wild Ride: Marcoleta’s Power Play, Remulla’s Pushback, and the Discayas’ Desperate Dive
- Witness Protection’s Ethical Earthquake: Remulla’s Moral Might vs. Marcoleta’s Legal Lip Service
- Without Principals, Without Hope: The Dire Shortage of Principals in Philippine Public Schools
- Witch Hunt or Justified Measure? Analyzing the ILBO Controversy Surrounding Harry Roque
- Wings of Renewal: Preserving the Philippine Eagle
KWEBA ni BAROK 
Leave a comment