Contract disadvantageous to seafarer voided
‘ In families, mothers are being consulted on purchases for loan applications; the study said 55 to 60 percent of women are buying cellular phones and gadgets such as laptops, followed by television sets.’
For being grossly disadvantageous to the seafarer, the Supreme Court voided a litigation financing agreement between a seafarer and a consultancy firm.
Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, in a decision he penned dated 6 November 2023, the Supreme Court’s Second Division denied the petition for review on certiorari filed by RODCO Consultancy and Maritime Services Corporation.
The petition assailed the rulings of the Court of Appeals (CA) which had reversed the Regional Trial Court’s (RTC) award of damages in favor of RODCO.
Floserfino G. Ross ( Floserfino), a repatriated seafarer, sought the assistance of RODCO, a consultancy and professional services firm, in filing a claim against his local manning agency, foreign ship owner, and insurance company.
Floserfino thus executed a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) authorizing RODCO to represent him in his claims. The SPA also stated that Floserfino could not sign any document nor negotiate for settlement for any amount without consulting or acquiring the prior approval of RODCO.
He also executed an Affidavit of Undertaking stating that RODCO is his exclusive and recognized Pioneer Seaman Claims Consultancy Office in the complaint he filed against United Philippine Lines, Inc., et al. at the National Labor Relations Commission.
The Affidavit also stated that Floserfino obligates, without any need of demand, to turn over portion of proceeds of money claims in favor of RODCO.
All the terms and conditions in the foregoing documents were integrated and incorporated in the Irrevocable Memorandum of Agreement executed by Floserfino and his wife, Antonia T. Ross (Antonia).
RODCO claimed that after Floserfino’s money claim was successfully collected, he issued in RODCO’s favor two checks in the amounts of PHP 300,000 and PHP 940,800, respectively. However, the checks were dishonoured when presented to the drawee bank.
Floserfino, however, claimed that RODCO asked him to issue two blank checks, the details of which were allegedly never made known to him as RODCO’s officers took custody to guaranty payment. Further, when he learned that 35% of the actual monetary award will be given to RODCO, he asked for more time to think about the agreement.
RODCO sent several demand letters to Floserfino and Antonia to settle their obligations. When the demands remained unheeded, RODCO filed before the RTC a complaint for sum of money and damages against the spouses.
The RTC ruled in RODCO’s favor, ordering the spouses to pay RODCO PHP 1,240,800 representing the amount of the checks issued, plus 6% interest, and PHP 40,000 in damages and attorney’s fees.
The CA, however, reversed the RTC’s ruling, holding that the contract entered into by Floserfino and RODCO was void from the beginning because RODCO rendered legal services despite the fact that it was not composed of lawyers, and the Irrevocable Memorandum of Agreement, which does not indicate the amount of contingent fee, lacked consideration.
In resolving the petition, the Court evaluated the contract between Floserfino and RODCO and found it has the features of litigation financing by a third party.
Today’s women have control of their lives within their families and consumer finance institution Home Credit reveals that over 50 percent of their borrowers now are women.
“We have 10.4 million acquired Filipino customers to date, 5.5 million of which are women, or over the 50 percent mark. Last year, 560,000 women signed a loan contract with us, also over 50 percent of the 1.1 million customers we acquired,” said Sheila Paul, the chief marketing officer of Home Credit Philippines in an interview with reporters on Friday in Makati City.
Paul said last year, during their qualitative studies on the financial behavior of certain segments it was revealed that decision-makers in obtaining loans were women, with an age range of from 28 to 35 years old.
“In families, mothers are being consulted on purchases for loan applications. The study said 55 to 60 percent of women are buying cellular phones and gadgets such as laptops, followed by television sets,” according to Paul.
The top brand purchased by borrowers was iPhone.
She said right now, purchases on e-bike and air conditioning units are prevalent, while the average amount being borrowed from Home Credit is between P15,000 and P20,000.
Paul said the number of retailers that offer Home Credit financing is currently at 15,000 and counting, while their sales agents are more than 8,000 scattered nationwide.
For more than 10 years now, Home Credit has provided a total of P295.7 billion in loans granted to more than 10 million customers across the country through installments, cash loans, and revolving credit products.
Mothers consulted on purchases
Bad loans
Non-performing loans, or loans not paid by lenders, are in the Home Credit expected range, which is under 10 percent and a healthy rate, Paul said.
“For us, 2023 was a good year but we want to be still conservative for 2024 because so much is happening in the global arena,” she said.
In 2022, Home Credit recorded a customer base of 9.3 million, mainly driven by continued expansion efforts towards lifestyle-oriented segments and categories.
Last month, Home Credit announced that it signed an agreement for an additional P7 billion loan facility with Ayalaled Bank of the Philippine Islands, making BPI the company’s biggest creditor with a total of P13.5 billion combined credit line facilities.
Loan credit facility
The said loan credit facility extended by BPI to Home Credit was the third from the bank, following a P1 billion facility in December 2022, and P4 billion in August 2023, apart from the additional P1.5 billion in November 2023 from Robinsons Bank Corporation, following its recent merger with BPI.
“The third loan was done because we wanted to maintain a healthy cash flow. So, we still get funding from banks to be able to have growth in the business,” Paul stressed.
Home Credit Philippines was issued a double-A Issuer Credit Rating with a stable outlook by PhilRatings (Philippine Rating Services Corporation), a pioneer domestic credit rating agency, in 2023 based on its overall creditworthiness and ability to meet all its financial commitments and sustain its growth in its market.