With the rise of commodity prices, our countrymen face difficulties considering that there’s no wage hike yet. Because of this, many of them turn to online lending companies and financing companies to supplement their expenses for their families, education, and other necessities. This contribute to making their already dire situation worse. Most often, the loan they get from the OLCs and FCs are not given in full as the interest is already taken out from the cash loan. For example, the loan is for P30,000.00 and the cash received is P22,800.00 because of the 24% interest has been deducted and to be paid within seven days or a 3.43% daily interest.

Our other countrymen, who borrow from OLCs and FCs, including college students with acceleration clauses, often experience harassment not only upon themselves but also their contacts – midnight or early morning calls, embarrassment through calling them fraud or delinquents, maligning them in social media, spread of fake news about their character, and threatening text messages that seem to come from courts or authority. The said acceleration clause allows for the OLCs and FCs to recover the full amount of the loan if the college student failed to pay an installment. It also becomes a wonder how the OLCs and FCs acquire sensitive personal information of the borrowers.

These OLCs and FCs violate many laws and rules. These are the Data Privacy Act, the Revised Penal Code on grave threats and coercion, Usury Law, Bangko Central ng Pilipinas Circular No. 1048, and SEC Memorandum Circular No. 18, series of 2019. Although there are remedies for that the borrowers experiencing these unfair practices by filing court cases and filing complaints with the National Privacy Commission, NBI, SEC and BSP, ordinary Filipinos do not have the resources – time and money – to spend. More so if they only live on daily wages.

It is time to address unfair debt collection practices in a centralized manner through a legislative measure to eradicate this unfair debt collection practice. It is also time to file a resolution addressing the effectiveness of the measures of various government agencies in curbing this collection practices. And I will be filing these measures this 20th Congress.