CEBU CITY, Philippines?The bank holiday declarations in at least five rural banks in Cebu under the Legacy Group have sent depositors of other rural banks into panic.

Depositors of the Rural Bank of Subangdaku Dumaguete branch went to the Thursday only to find the door shut at 9 a.m., the scheduled start of banking hours.

They waited for the rumored opening time of 10 a.m. but it came and went with the bank's steel rolling doors still closed. At noon Thursday, only a handful of depositors stayed on outside the bank's Dumaguete City branch.

Maritess Obenza, administrative officer and spokesperson of RBS, confirmed their Dumaguete branch was closed Thursday but she maintained it was just temporary.

Obenza gave assurances the RBS Dumaguete would open soon although she could not give any specific date because the bank?s board had yet to make a decision.

Obenza admitted that the temporary closure of their branch in Dumaguete also caused apprehensions to their depositors in Cebu.

Aside from RBS-Dumaguete branch, three other RBS branches located in the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay stopped serving withdrawals starting Thursday, Obenza said.

She admitted that the volume of clients who went to their branches was beyond the average volume during ordinary days, with most of the transactions for withdrawals.

But Obenza categorically said that the RBS did not declare a bank holiday. She explained that the bank did not accept withdrawals due to the heavy volume of transactions.

In a written statement issued by the RBS through Obenza, the bank asked its clients to be patient.

The RBS noted that the sudden declaration of a bank holiday by some rural banks in Cebu created uncertainty among depositors in the rural banking sector, the RBS added.

"When its neighboring rural banks declared a bank holiday, RBS clientele's knee-jerk reaction has partially affected the bank. Rest assured the Rural Bank of Subangdaku has no plans of declaring a bank holiday. The bank has the financial capability to serve its clientele's needs," the statement said.

Obenza, also the administrative officer of RBS, said they were open to their clients but only to explain about the situation.

RBS also has branches in General Santos City and Las Pinas.

Meanwhile, lawyer Inocencio de la Cerna, spokesperson of the Philippine Countryside Rural Bank Inc. (PCRBI) and Pilipino Rural Bank (PRB) that declared a bank holiday, said the cause of the declaration was the heavy withdrawals, which started a month or two ago.

In a phone interview Thursday, De la Cerna attributed these heavy withdrawals to the Christmas season and the worldwide current financial crisis.

"We will be working hand in hand with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation and it is our commitment to fully cooperate with the processes as required by the regulating agencies," De la Cerna said.

He also appealed to the depositors to remain calm and wait for more information about the status of the banks.