THE House Monday night approved a bill doubling the maximum deposit insurance to P500,000 from P250,000 to give depositors more protection against bank failures.

Manila Rep. Jaime Lopez, chairman of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries, said the House voted 172 to zero, with no abstentions, to approve House Bill 5911.

Under the bill, the government guarantees to share in the payment of the increased maximum deposit insurance for the first three years to allow the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to sustain the increase. Congress will reimburse PDIC through an appropriation.

The bill, principally authored by Lopez and House Speaker Prospero Nograles, also provides a tax subsidy to PDIC. Christine F. Herrera