Poe hits ‘harassment’ on delinquent debt payers

Sen Grace Poe during a committee hearing in the Senate on Feb 27, 2018. INQUIRER FILE / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Debt collectors who harass delinquent debtors should be punished to end abusive behavior, Senator Grace Poe said Sunday.

In a bid to protect consumers, Poe has filed Senate Resolution No. 655, which directs the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies to look into the implementation of Republic Act 10870 or the Philippine Credit Card Industry Regulation Act.

Poe, chair of the Senate public services committee, said her office recently received complaints that collecting agencies “continue to harass borrowers in a threatening and offensive move to collect money” on behalf of issuing banks despite the recent passage of the law.

“The lack of clear guidelines and dedicated implementation of existing laws and regulations that would punish debt collectors gives them a wide latitude to harass, bombard borrowers with calls and text messages bordering on criminal acts, and engage in other unfair collection practices,” Poe said in a statement.

While emphasizing that debtors should pay their outstanding debts, Poe denounced abusive collectors that use the poor financial standing of credit card holders as a license to harass, resort to name-calling and threaten consumers with delinquent accounts to compel them to pay.

“For many years, credit card debt collectors put pressure and use crooked ploys on the defaulter to collect money,” said Poe.

The senator enumerated the “most notorious” and “crooked” ways of collecting money such as threatening the debtor that a case has already been filed in court, as well as calling the debtor’s employer with the intent to smear the reputation of the defaulter, which, in some cases, lead to firing of the employee.

Poe said these illegal practices must be stopped to protect consumers from emotional and mental attacks and sleepless nights. The senator said debtors often do not complain about the harassment they receive for fear of reprisal or humiliation over their unpaid obligations.

“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas should immediately issue the necessary guidelines that would govern credit card companies and debt collectors as to what constitutes criminal acts punishable under existing laws and policies,” she said. /cbb