Senate Inquiry sought on harassment by debt collectors
By Camille A. Aguinaldo
SENATOR Grace Poe-Llamanzares has filed a resolution seeking to investigate debt collectors engaged in unfair collection practices.
Filed last Feb. 22, Senate Resolution No. 655 seeks to look into the implementation of Republic Act 10870 or the Philippine Credit Card Industry Regulation Act following complaints of harassment by collecting agencies.
Under Section 19 of RA 10870, “a credit card issuer or collection agent shall not harass, abuse or oppress any person or engage in any unfair practices, as may be defined by BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] rules and regulations, in connection with the collection of any credit card debt.”
In a statement Sunday, Ms. Llamanzares denounced abusive collectors who use the poor financial standing of credit card holders to harass and threaten consumers with delinquent accounts to compel them to pay.
“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,” she said.
Ms. Llamanzares identified the “most notorious” ways of collecting money, which included threatening the debtor that a case has already been filed in court, using barangay tanod or men in uniform to force the borrower to pay and telling the cardholder that his or her property could be garnished in exchange of the outstanding debt.
Other unfair practices included calling the debtor’s employer to smear his or her reputation, bombarding the debtor with text messages on an alleged warrant of arrest due to the unpaid account and telling the cardholder that a hold departure order has been issued against him or her.
Ms. Llamanzares said debt collectors using such harassment should be punished in order to protect consumers from emotional and mental attacks.
She also called on the BSP to immediately issue the necessary guidelines identifying the criminal acts punishable under existing laws and policies.
