Butch Bagabuyo “Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.” – Jefferson, Letter to Gerry EVEN during the times of the late US President Thomas Jefferson, banking institutions where already the icons of debilitating greed, and yet it has even grown more prominent in the world today more than ever. The main reason why banks are more lethal than a standing army is because we all have heard and condone the saying: “A banker is a man who lends you an umbrella when the weather is fair, and takes it away from you when it rains.”  (The truth is the banker does not own the umbrella but you!) To add salt to injury, the money used by banking institutions to enrich the greedy controlling members of the board of directors are not really theirs, but those of the depositors who are bled to death by the piranha-like bankers. Here’s my take.
  • Most if not, all businessmen who want to make it big and at the same time have their other assets well protected, form banking corporations. By so doing, the bulk of the assets of the members of the board of directors that are not placed in their own banks are shielded from garnishments, seizures and what-have-you. So, in the most unlikely event of bankruptcy only their meager original investment in the bank are held liable. The rest of the unconscionable earnings and profits are untouchable. Our Corporation Code says so.
  • Whenever a bank goes bankrupt or experiences a bank run, the stockholders and the bank depositors – the real owners of the assets taken advantage of by the board of directors – are the ones who suffer the most. Mind you, I am of the strong belief that most of the bank runs are stagemanaged; hence, the vested interests of the controlling majority stockholders are well-protected. I even go further and allege that bank runs are but “telenovelas” designed to humor the naïve bank depositors while “bleeding-to-death,” literally, more often than not. The only reason why the so-called bank deposit-insurance law in our country mandates an unconscionable low the amount that bank depositors can immediately withdraw from banking institutions experiencing bank runs is to ensure that the deposits of corrupt public officials are well protected.
  • The innocent bank depositors and the stockholders are the ones who make the bank big and profitable. However, their money in the bank earn pittance out of the huge profit that the bank earns when the same bank depositors secure loans from the banks where their money are deposited.
  • Whenever a bank declares profit, most of the income goes to stock dividends and only a small amount goes to cash dividend; hence, in every surplus or profit at the end of the fiscal year, the members of the board of directors syphon off the dividend and therefore their stocks are multiplied so many times over while the stockholders receive the crumbs.
  • Whenever, a bank experiences a bank run whether by design or as a mater-of-fact, the stockholders and the bank depositors suffer in the hands of the controlling majority members of the board of directors.
  • Because of our jurassic bank secrecy law, all the crooks, especially the terrorists make our banking system their haven to hide their nefarious activities.
Unless our banking system is completely overhauled, our banks are the perpetual safe refuge of all the fruits of graft and corrupt practices acts by the underworld in unholy alliance with our corrupt public officials. It is high time our banking system--nay, the entire Constitution--is overhauled to ensure that those who have less in life would have more in law. After all, in a democratic system like ours, the sovereign is the many, who are poor and not the few who are made richer by the day because of our elitist Constitution. Like it or not, of the five presidential-vice presidential teams, only the Duterte-Cayetano tandem is committed to overhaul our present Constitution from the graftidden highly centralized presidential system to a federal system of governance within six months after they are sworn into office. The four other aspirants tremble at the thought of changing our Constitution because they are held by their necks of the controlling majority stockholders of the banks in our country. Worst, VP Binay even announced: “I used to favor death sentence but not anymore.” Indeed, fish are caught by their mouths. Duterte-Cayetano pa more! Tsada, di ba?
  • •
“We exist temporarily for wat we take, but we live forever through what we give.” – Douglas M. Lawson Because our city is proud of having secured the admiration by a good many Filipinos as truly “A City of Golden Friendship,” Kagay-anons elect our city officials regardless of where they used to come from. Hence, our city mayors came from different parts of the archipelago. However, last week, while I was patiently waiting for dismissed, transition and hambuguero Mayor Oscar S. Moreno to finish his usual over-extended “flagaising ceremonies” cum nauseating singing extravaganza, a group of litigation lawyers told this column of their frustration every Monday ever since Oca’s election to office, courtesy of the Rodríguezes (top-notch Congressmen Rufus of the 2nd district and Abamin’s Maxie as well as their beautiful and talented sister, Bebot, the chairperson of the Barangay Nazareth). Unanimously, they clamored: “Let’s bring back our city to sanity and install ‘Team Robust Rufus Harus on May 9, 2016.” Enough of a mayor who cannot trust the city council. The Local Government Code gives the mayor no choice but to work with the local legislators. Since both our dismissed, transition and hambuguero executive and the clown-cilors arrogantly defy our Local Government Code, Kagay-anons are mandated to have a complete change on May 9, 2016. Team Robust Rufus Harus pa more! Tsada, di ba?