Banco de Oro Unibank Chair Tessie Sy-Coson said the bank is “working fast” to restore to normalcy the operations of a few BDO branches affected by typhoon “Ondoy” and is making sure emergency measures are in placed for the next one.

“About 28 branches are still undergoing renovations,” Sy-Coson said. “On ATMs (automated teller machines) less than 50 percent are affected due to telephone and cable connection problems.”  BDO, the country’s largest bank, operates 700 branches and 1,200 ATMs.

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) vice president for operations Mike Bernabe said 95 percent of all its 831 ATM stations are operating. The five percent that are inoperable are ATMs located in Marikina and Cainta.

“There are areas that are still not serviceable due to power and line trouble,” he said. BPI has 33 ATMs in Marikina and Cainta. “The service restoration will depend on when PLDT and Globe will have the lines back.”

Outside of the metropolis, BPI said ATM services in Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and Pampanga have normalized but in Bulacan, there are still five ATMs that are down. BPI, the country’s third biggest bank, has the most number of ATMs. BPI is also waiving remittance service fees for cash transfers transacted via BPI and Wells Fargo for two weeks starting Wednesday.

Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. in the meantime said 99 percent of their branches in affected areas – except for San Roque, Barangka, Calumpang-Marikina, Cainta, and Farmers Plaza – are now fully operational.

The whole banking system operates more than 7,741 ATMs. In an advisory, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it is monitoring banks continuously and that it is coordinating with all banks to ensure that the needs of the banking public are addressed. (LCC)