BDO waives remittance fee for Taal donations, Manulife extends payment terms

Residents clear their roofs from volcanic ash in Laurel, Batangas province, southern Philippines on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Taal volcano is spewing ash half a mile high and trembling with earthquakes constantly as thousands of people flee villages darkened and blanketed by heavy ash. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

As Taal Volcano continues to put some communities and livelihood at risk, big financial services firms have eased payment requirements to transactions that will benefit victims of this natural disaster.

To make it easier for overseas Filipinos to provide financial assistance to thousands of victims of Taal eruption, the country’s largest lender BDO Unibank Inc. has waived remittance fees on cash donations that will be sent through its different remittance offices abroad.

For its part, insurance provider Manulife Philippines announced that it is extending the payment period for policy holders in affected areas, displaying “solidarity with Filipinos affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.”

In the case of BDO, the free remittance campaign on cash donations to Taal victims will run until March 31, 2020.

“We know overseas Filipinos, by the very nature of every Filipino, would love to help their kababayans in the Philippines who were most affected by the Mt. Taal eruption through cash donations. BDO is serving as bridge to this by waiving regular remittance fees on donations sent through BDO remit offices. It’s the bank’s way of making sure all donations, every centavo, are spent to buy relief goods. In times like this, you just want to help any which way you can,” said Genie Gloria, senior vice president and head of remittance of BDO.

Aside from the different BDO Remit offices, the bank’s global remittance partners are also receiving cash donations for the benefit of the Taal eruption victims, including Remitly, Small World, WorldRemit, Azimo, UAE Exchange Centre, and Xpress Money. Regular remittance charges will apply to these transactions.

For its part, Manulife said customers from affected areas would be given an extended payment grace period of 91 days for all life insurance policies issued and assumed by Manulife Philippines, Manulife China Bank Life Assurance Corp., as well as Manulife Financial Plans Inc. pension and education plans, whose due dates fall between December 12, 2019 and February 12, 2020.

Customers from all cities in Batangas are covered by this extension. Sta. Rosa, Laguna is also covered alongside Tagaytay City, Alfonso City and Cavite City in the province of Cavite.

“We stand with all Filipino families impacted by this natural disaster. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and continue to look for ways to help make decisions easier and lives better for those affected,” said Richard Bates, president and chief executive officer of Manulife Philippines.