MOUNTAIN PROVINCE– Local treasurers here called the attention of the Land Bank of the Philippines to address the continuing problem of cashless or offline Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in this province.
Provincial Treasurer Cawed A. Gamonnac during the Regional Association of Local Treasurers and Assessors (REGATA) year end conference, relayed the plight of ATM card holders to the invited LBP officials of Baguio City and La Trinidad, Benguet to fix and install additional units to accommodate more clients especially the beneficiaries of the Pantawid sa Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and considering also that the mode of payments of salaries of officials and employees of local governments are done thru the paperless machines.
The treasurer added that cash in the ATMs should be replenished anytime including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays to minimize the complaints of their clients.
Some clients also requested the government-owned bank and the country’s fourth largest financial institution to return the maximum withdrawal amount from P 30,000.00 to P 50,000.00. This should ease the burden of employees from the far flung areas of the province, whose salaries range from P50,000.00 and above who have to undertake multiple transactions to withdraw their earnings.
It is to be noted that the Provincial Government of Mountain Province has shifted from the traditional payroll system of distributing cash stuffed in envelopes to ATMs last July 2018 for less paper works and for the convenient of officials and employees who can withdraw their salaries anytime, anywhere.
In an interview with the Land Bank branch manager, Engineer Inaro Dumpayan, he said that as far as the Bontoc branch is concerned, the machines have always been replenished from time to time even on weekends and holidays. He admitted that there are instances when the loading of machines were delayed which is beyond their control. These are due to force majeure, technical faults/machine breakdown to network problems and power failure with some customers reporting cases of ATM cash dispensing errors, and to the fact that the branch has no available armored car to transport money from the nearest cash centers located at Baguio and San Fernando City, La union.
Dumpayan added that as much as they would like to increase the maximum withdrawable amount of P 30,000.00, it is beyond their control because of the system. He advised the clients that they can have their transactions over the counter.
As to the installation of more machines, the manager said that their office had already requested for one (1) ATM unit from the Bangko Sentral ng Plipinas to accommodate more customers and he is optimistic that it will be installed next year.
It has been observed that long queues at the ATMs have become a common sight especially during festive periods all over the country especially during Christmas and New Year.
“What we can assure the public of is that there was no hacking and no breach of our systems,” the bank officials said, explaining that at times they opted to shut down ATM and electronic banking services to ensure that clients’ data are not compromised.
Meanwhile, local treasurers are appealing to higher authorities of Land Bank of the Philippines, being one of the depository banks of LGUs, and some agencies concerned to heed the clamor of their constituents to increase the volume of cash in the machines of the LBP branch here for smooth and continuous flow of financial transactions considering that other local governments were urged and are planning to go for automated machine transactions. ** Alfred Macalling
