Veterans Bank's new charter allows post-WWII veterans, AFP retirees to be shareholders

Post-World War II veterans, including retirees from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, can now hold shares in the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) after its amended charter was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte. 

In a statement, PVB said the Philippine Veterans Bank Act or Republic Act 11597 was signed by Duterte on December 10, 2021 and is slated to take effect on January 21, 2022.

RA 11597 repeals PVB’s old charter, RA 3518 or An Act Creating the Philippine Veterans Bank, which was amended by RA 7169 or An Act to Rehabilitate Philippine Veterans Bank of 1992.

Under RA 11597, the definition of “veterans,” which is closely tied to the bank’s stock ownership, was amended to include post-World War II veterans, thus allowing AFP retirees to be shareholders of PVB.

In the old PVB charter, “veterans” are defined as only those Filipinos who fought during World War II.

As such, ownership of the bank was limited to these Filipino veterans and their designated heirs.

The newly-signed charter also includes the increase of PVB’s capitalization from P100 million to P10 billion, which will allow the bank to issue additional stocks, increase the number of the Board of Directors to 15 from the present 11 and move its head office to Makati City.

Mike Villa-Real, vice president of PVB, said that with the new charter, the bank can now increase its capitalization and include post-World War II veterans to be shareholders “while maintaining priority for World War II veterans and their immediate heirs.”

The new charter also highlights the provision that maintains PVB’s status as a government depository bank, allowing it to accept deposits from national government agencies, local government units, and government corporations.

By extension, this allows PVB to continue offering its products and services such as loans and cash management services to government clients. 

This is what makes PVB versatile – it is a private financial institution catering to private individuals and corporates but is also a government depository, the bank said. 

PVB added it will continue to allocate 20% of its annual net income for the benefit of Filipino veterans and their families “through programs and endeavors that will be beneficial to the well-being of the bank’s shareholders.” — VBL, GMA News