SEC, BSP must have limits

There should be a limit to how much banks and lending firms can deduct loan payments from retirement pensions. Pension benefits are meant to somehow help retirees meet daily expenses, especially health care needs. However, SSS and GSIS pensions are being used as collateral or security in the giving of loans.

My fear is the loan payment deductions may be getting too much that little is left of whatever little amount the monthly retirement pensions are.

Lenders should also not take possession of the ATM cards of pensioners. Those cards are not the property of the lenders because those cards were issued to the pensioners.

I am therefore appealing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to promulgate rules that will set limits on how much lenders can deduct from the monthly pensions of retirees and how much must remain in the monthly pension.

Their rules should also stop and prevent the lenders from getting the pensioners’ ATM cards. Other unethical practices of lenders toward retirees must also be prohibited.

SEC and BSP must also find ways to proactively inform the public on which lenders to avoid.

I am open to meeting the SEC and BSP soon to iron out the details and convey to them in person the plight of retirees.

I also ask the Department of Finance to give ample to the personal properties of seniors and retirees in the implementing rules and regulations of the new Personal Property Security Act (RA 11057). Please protect seniors against unjust liens and seizure of their personal properties.