Teachers fall prey to loan anomaly, but get no choice

A teacher in Luzon took out a three-year loan from a private lending institution accredited by the Department of Education (DepEd) and wanted to pay it in a year.

But Richard Hipolito, a master teacher at Mabalacat City National High School, was surprised when he found out that Manila Teachers’ Savings and Loan Association (MTSLA) charged him for three years’ worth of interest instead of one.

Hipolito, in an interview over dzBB, said the school principal and two other teachers also had a similar experience with MTSLA, a nonstock savings and loan association that offers loans to public school teachers through a program under Manila Teachers Mutual Aid System.

Party-list

It was founded by the family of Rep. Virgilio Lacson, of the party-list group Manila Teachers.

In the General Appropriations Act of 2018, private lending institutions are given priority over other lenders catering to public school teachers under the DepEd’s Order No. 05 series of 2018.

During the interview with dzBB on the occasion of Teacher’s Month, Hipolito, who is also vice president of a teachers’ union in Central Luzon, said he was able to pay in just one year a loan that allowed him to pay in three years.

But Hipolito ended up being charged for a P543,000 loan because the lending institution wanted to collect interest good for three years instead of one.

Told that it was policy, Hipolito had no choice but pay.

Clear provision

But when he checked the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between lending institutions and the DepEd, Hipolito saw a provision saying that if a loan was paid in a year, the borrower would be charged with only one year’s worth of interest.

Other lending institutions abided by the MOA but apparently not MTSLA, Hipolito said.

Hipolito said he and other teachers with the same predicament complained to the DepEd central office in February. No action has been taken so far. —INQUIRER VISAYAS