Removal of co-maker requirement for loans pushed

Manila Rep. Irwin Tieng wants to completely do away with having a co-maker as a prerequisite to securing loans from the country’s credit institutions. Tieng, who chairs the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries, has filed House Bill No. 7076 or proposed “No Co-Maker Act of 2023” which would require banks and financial institutions to relax loan application requirements and spare co-makers from being obligated to pay the principal borrower’s dues. HB 7076 will ban the requirement of a co-maker for loans and protect the co-maker from the obligation of paying the main borrower’s loans plus interest and penalties. —Jeannette I. Andrade