The Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police Director General Oscar David Albayalde ordered the Chief Directoral Staff, Police Deputy Director General (PDDG) Archie Francisco Gamboa, to quickly resolve the additional complaints of cops filed against Multi-Purpose Cooperatives (MPC) for excessive loan interests and extended number of installments.
PDDG Gamboa guaranteed that the agency is doing the necessary actions to safeguard the welfare of policemen from becoming prey of loan sharks and erring MPCs.
“Nang dahil sa culture of loan sa kapulisan, marami ang nabaon sa utang, pero hindi hahayaan ng pamunuan ng PNP at ng pamahalaan ni Mayor Duterte ang kapakanan ng mga alagad ng batas (Because of the culture of loan among policemen, many are debt-ridden. However, the PNP leadership and the Duterte administration will not allow the welfare of the law enforcers to deteriorate,” Gamboa said.
Malacañang interceded through Special Assistant to the President (SAP), Sec. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, who sent his lawyer to accompany the complaining policemen to PNP headquarters to discuss their complaints.
Following the directive, Gamboa held meetings with the complaining policemen along with their lawyer and the representatives of concerned offices including former Director of the PNP Finance Service (FS), Police Chief Superintendent Lyndon G. Cubos, now the Acting Director of Personnel and Records Management, the Office which oversees the morale and welfare of the policemen.
In a statement Thursday, the PNP said “as of this report, some MPCs have waived the penalties on the loans of some of the complainants. Some of the loan deductions will also be stopped starting July 2018 due to the intervention of the PNP through the Finance Service”.
Meanwhile, the FS, tasked to collate needed documents of the concerned PNP personnel, has rolled out interventions to include a revised deduction scheme, which limits the Number of Remaining Installments (NRI) to not more than 60 months or 5 years for salary loan; and not more than 72 months for vehicle or car loans.
The lending institutions were reported to have imposed exorbitant penalties on the principal and interest rates of their borrowers. The new Monthly Amortization (MA) and the Number of Remaining Installments (NRI) were increased without the knowledge and permission of their borrowers.
These increased MAs and NRIs were entered into the system of the FS, which led to excessive deductions for loan payments from the salaries of the complainants.
Some of the NRIs reached as high as 870 installments, which means the borrower will have to pay them in 72.5 years.
In addition, the Committee on Accreditation and Automatic Deduction (CAAD) examined all existing Memoradum of Agreement among accredited MPCs. Moreover, new policies are now being drafted to incorporate provisions regarding the 48-hour release of Statement of Accounts (SOA) from the time of borrower’s request, and the mandatory issuance of an Annual SOA to the borrower containing records of payment and remaining load balance to be mailed at the borrower’s latest known address. The committee will meet again on Friday to finalize revisions in the criteria of accrediting MPCs as well as new policies regarding the maximum loan interests levied on borrowers are clearly stipulated. (AVDS/PTV with additional reports from Benjamin Pulta – PNA)
